Overuse of CT scans – radiation and cancer risk

(Australia) Doctors ‘cavalier’ on use of CT scans

THE AUSTRALIAN Adam Cresswell, Health editor | August 07, 2009

A CONTROVERSY over excessive ordering of CT scans has widened, with the Medicare watchdog saying it is “horrified” that GPs are misusing the high-radiation technique for patients with uncomplicated back pain.

CT scans subject patients to 400 times more radiation than ordinary X-rays, and health experts warned this week that, despite the danger, doctors appeared to be referring patients for CT chest scans without good cause.

Now Tony Webber, the head of the federal government’s Professional Services Review that investigates doctors suspected of inappropriate practice and over-servicing, says he plans a crackdown on CT scans because doctors are making referrals “in a very cavalier fashion”.

CT, or computed tomography, scans pack in so much radiation that experts have estimated unnecessary chest CT scans alone could be responsible for 40 fatal cancers a year in Australia.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25894639-2702,00.html

August 7, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, health, uranium | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, uranium