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Radiation safety protocols needed for CT scans

Currently, there are no safety protocols in place to measure and record the radiation doses being administered to patients who receive CT scans.

CT machines and radiation overdoses: SB1237 would help – latimes.com, 26 Sept 10, “……..the machine that was meant to diagnose me and guide my treatment was also exposing me to excessive levels of radiation capable of causing lethal harm. Apparently, the scanner had been set improperly, so each CT brain perfusion scan bombarded my head with at least eight times the allowable dose of radiation.
……Scanning the scannersWe need better standards and regulations for CT machines to keep other patients from being subjected to excessive radiation.

By Michael HeuserSeptember 26, 2010 “…….Currently, there are no safety protocols in place to measure and record the radiation doses being administered to patients who receive CT scans. SB 1237 requires that doses be recorded in a patient’s medical records, so that mistakes will be more easily detected and addressed. The bill also requires that hospitals inform patients and their doctors when they are subject to radiation overdoses.

I was kept in the dark for weeks about the true nature of my radiation overdosing, and it took months to get my full medical records. I learned more about what happened to me by reading the Los Angeles Times than from Cedars, hardly the level of care and communication one expects from a world-class hospital.

Conservative estimates are that I suffered the equivalent of more than 50,000 chest X-rays to my brain. I shudder to think what that means for my long-term health, and I live with the constant fear that with every headache, every instance of blurry vision or any time I stumble and lose my balance, I have developed a brain tumor or some other form of cancer caused by massive radiation exposure……CT scanners are manufactured by recognizable multinational corporations, yet they lack safety protocols and systems to shut them down if the radiation doses get too high. It is frightening and unconscionable to me that my car, which beeps if a bumper gets too close to the curb or another car, has a more sophisticated warning system than a machine capable of producing potentially lethal levels of radiation.

CT machines and radiation overdoses: SB1237 would help – latimes.com

September 27, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, radioactive