Sunday, April 30, 20061
The new standard of defensive medicine
64-slice CT scanners. Expect most who enter the ER with chest pain to receive these scans soon:
At this point, most doctors agree that the new scanners should not be used to look for problems in healthy people. In addition to the radiation risk, CT scans may pick up tiny spots of plaque on artery walls that, in the absence of symptoms, are hard for doctors to interpret. They may not know whether the plaque poses a heart attack risk to the patient and requires treatment such as clot-busting medications or a stent to widen the vessel. Inevitably, many such patients probably would get treatment anyway, because it's hard for doctors to do nothing, especially given the fear of lawsuits.
Comments
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Anonymous
I never thought it would happen. But today it has - a perfect chance to use my favorite Homer Simpson quote in context.
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