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Radiologists see overuse of patient scans; specialists see turf battle

Radiologists see overuse of patient scans; specialists see turf battle
Stesman.com 9 Jan 09 Lawmakers expected to be asked to referee dispute between radiologists and other doctors investing in own scanning equipment.By Mary Ann RoserAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFThursday, January 08, 2009Are you being overexposed?Some Texas radiologists — the doctors who use scans such as CT and MRI to see inside the body — say yes. And they want the Legislature to consider regulating who can scan, where the scanning is done and who reads the tests.

Once lawmakers convene for a new session Tuesday, radiologists plan to ask them to order a study of who owns scanning equipment, hoping to curb what they say is a growing problem: a rising number of scans being done by specialists who are not radiologists but who own advanced imaging equipment.

They say this is a conflict of interest that is driving up health care costs and exposing some patients to unnecessary radiation………..

……………….At issue is the use of CT, or computed tomography, and MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, both of which scan organs inside the body, and PET, or positron emission tomography, which uses a radioactive substance to show the functioning of organs and tissues. With a CT scan, patients are exposed to 100 times more radiation than with a standard X-ray, Perkins said. MRI does not use radiation…………

…….A November 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine said…..

….with rising CT use about 1.5 percent to 2 percent of all cancers could be attributed to CT scans in future decades, based on scans received today, the study said. CT scans increased from 3 million in 1980 to 62 million per year in the mid-2000s.

Radiologists see overuse of patient scans; specialists see turf battle

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January 9, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment