US Doctors Abuse Dangerous Cancer-Causing Procedure for Money

Computed tomography (CT) scans use X-rays to create detailed images of the body. However, the radiation levels involved in the procedure can be dangerous, writes Daily Mail.

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CT scans are used to diagnose and monitor diseases such as cancer and bone damage, as well as to assist in surgery and assess the effectiveness of certain treatments.

However, there is virtually no regulation of the operation of tomographs, and the radiation level varies between different devices.

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In 2009, researchers found that high doses of radiation from CT scans caused two percent of all cancer cases (about 30 cases per year).

Current research suggests that as the number of CT scans increases, the number of cancers associated with them is likely to increase as well.

Of course, CT scanning can save lives by allowing early detection of disease or internal bleeding.

However, experts say it is sometimes prescribed too often and unnecessarily. Possible reasons include commercial interests of hospitals, since the tests are expensive, or concerns of doctors that they will not detect a disease in time and will then face a lawsuit.

Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, has been studying the effects of CT scans on patients' health since 2009. She told NBC News, "We keep doing more and more CT scans, and the doses keep going up."

One scanner is capable of exposing patients to 10 to 15 times more radiation than the other, Smith-Bindman said.

“There is a very big difference – the doses vary by an order of magnitude, that is, tenfold, not 10 percent, even for patients with the same clinical problem,” she noted.

According to medical research company IMV, about 93 million CT scans are performed in the United States each year, and that number is growing.

Radiation exposure is measured in millisieverts (mSv), a unit that indicates the amount of radiation absorbed by the body.

People are exposed to small doses of radiation every day from the environment or, for example, during air travel.

A 2007 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine noted that while the risks to an individual from a CT scan are small, "increased radiation exposure in the population may become a public health concern in the future."

The study authors wrote that CT radiation may account for 1,5-2% of all cancer cases.

A 2009 study in which Dr. Smith-Bindman was involved looked at the radiation dose from 11 common types of CT scans performed on 1 adult patients in 119.

The radiation dose was found to vary considerably, with average values ​​ranging from 2 mSv for head CT to 31 mSv for abdominal and pelvic CT.

By comparison, a roundtrip flight between New York and Tokyo exposes a person to 0,19 mSv. An X-ray of the stomach yields a dose of 0,6 mSv.

However, the researchers found that radiation levels from CT scanners varied significantly across the four hospitals where they collected data, with the difference between the minimum and maximum doses for each type of scan being as much as 13-fold.

A team of scientists assessed the likelihood of developing cancer after a CT scan depending on the patient's age and gender.

About one in 270 women and one in 600 men who have a CT scan of the heart arteries at age 40 will develop cancer as a result of the procedure.

About one in 8 women and one in 100 men who have a routine CT scan of the head at age 11 will develop cancer as a result of the scan.

For patients in their 20s, the risks are about twice as high, and for those in their 60s, they are half as high.

The researchers did not specify what kind of cancer the patients might develop. Radiation has previously been linked to leukemia, breast cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer and liver cancer, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The study authors concluded: "Radiation doses from routine diagnostic CT examinations are higher and more variable than commonly reported, highlighting the need for greater standardization across institutions."

To address this problem, new Medicare rules went into effect this year that require hospitals and imaging centers to collect and report data on the radiation emitted by their scanners.

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The regulation includes, among other things, more careful checking of the dosage, quality and actual necessity of CT scanning.

The new regulations, passed in the final weeks of the Biden administration, will be phased in over three years for hospitals and outpatient clinics, with facilities facing fines starting in 2027 if they fail to comply.

The Trump administration has not yet commented on whether it plans to enforce, revise or roll back the new rules.

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