Too Many Doctors Use Too Much Radiation to Treat Prostate Cancer Pain
Although radiation can be a vital diagnostic tool and a life-saving cancer treatment, its dangers are well-documented (see our backgrounder on radiation overdose injuries). A recent study published in...
View ArticleDoctors Call for Lowering Use of Radiation Imaging
Writing last month in the New York Times, Dr. Rita F. Redberg, a cardiologist, and Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a radiologist, applauded the advances made in preventing and treating cancer. But they also...
View ArticleTexas Might Decide Radiologic Techs Don’t Need a License
Texas has about 28,000 licensed X-ray technicians, but if the state follows the recommendation of an advisory commission, the piece of paper that certifies that they’re qualified to dose you with...
View ArticleUltrasound Is Better than CT for Kidney Stones
Despite the increased use of CT scans to diagnose kidney stones for emergency department patients, the imaging technology is no better than an ultrasound exam, and ultrasound is safer. Ultrasound,...
View ArticleToo Many Stress Tests Involve Unnecessary Exposure to Radiation
Cardiac stress testing can be a useful tool to assess heart function, but since it became trendy for companies to subject their executives to treadmill stress tests as part of their annual checkups,...
View ArticlePatients Undergoing Scans Seldom Told of Full Radiation Risks
Another unsettling study indicates that people undergoing diagnostic scans involving radiation are not given information about the risks of the procedure. As reported by AboutLawsuits.com, less than...
View ArticleSuperior Reporting on a Complicated Topic — Lung Cancer Screenings
Earlier this month, the New York Times wrestled with the thorny issue of lung cancer screenings, and whether people who are entitled to certain screenings through their Medicare coverage should get...
View ArticleU.S. Mammogram Recommendations Reinforced by Global Studies
A couple of months ago, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) stirred the cancer screening pot with its opinion that mammograms are of limited use as cancer screenings for younger women and...
View ArticleMRI Contrast Drugs Might Harm Your Brain
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a body scan that provides detailed images particularly good for viewing soft tissue (versus a traditional X-ray that’s better for seeing bone). Sometimes, drugs are...
View ArticleDoctor, Do Less?
Now that the American Cancer Society has joined a growing chorus of experts and offered new screening guidelines for women with fewer mammograms and fewer breast physical exams, everything changes —...
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Are dentists extracting extra revenue with unneeded X-rays?
The cost won’t exactly break the bank. But it might equal what you will pay for the oral health care that prompted the visit. When the dentist starts saying it’s time for partial or “bitewing” X-rays,...
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Women challenged by disparities in many parts of their health care
Modern medicine isn’t addressing women’s distinctive health care needs as optimally as needed, with research further showing it may be time to dial down expectations about breast cancer screening,...
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Solar eclipse was awesome, and you can plan for the next one
Did you find the full solar eclipse to be thrilling and energizing? Hope so. And even if not, you can start planning to see the next one in 2019 in South America and parts of Asia, or in 2024 in...
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As breast cancer patients know, over-testing and over-treatment are big woes
Up to a third of medical spending goes for over-treatment and over-testing, with an estimated $200 billion in the U.S. expended on medical services with little benefit to patients. But getting doctors...
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A new caution on how breast cancer care also can harm women’s hearts
As cardiologists and oncologists swap cross-fire about the conditions they treat and how they do so, here’s hoping that, above all, their female patients end up helped and not harmed, getting vital...
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Doctors ordering wasteful and excessive MRI and CT scans, experts say
When patients experience bad headaches, severe chest pain, back or neck aches, or even when kids come in with gut pain that likely is appendicitis, doctors too readily push them into and through what...
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FDA ripped over breast implant safety as agency seeks mammogram change
Uncle Sam has paid what critics have called long overdue attention to women’s breasts and how surgeons and diagnosticians treat them. In an angry and emotional public hearing, women ripped the federal...
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Walmart sees a bigger picture with costly imaging: frequent misdiagnosis
As Walmart tries to work with its 1 million-plus U.S. employees in controlling health care costs, the retailing giant has not only struck a blow for quality medical treatment, it also has raised key...
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Lung-cancer test may be advisable for more smokers and quitters, experts say
Tens of millions of Americans who have not kicked the harmful smoking habit or who have only recently done so may want to keep a watch on the work of a blue-chip advisory group as its medical...
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