There is no question that the use CT scanning is exploding. Which is not good on many levels. Especially if you’re pregnant:
The notion that pregnant women are also being scanned at an increasing rate is even more troubling, given that exposure to excess radiation can severely damage a developing fetus. Some of the rise is due to the fact that better technology is now available to diagnose abnormalities, said Dr. Elizabeth Lazarus, assistant professor of diagnostic imaging at Brown. She added that hospitals and insurers also want to make fast diagnoses to shorten hospital stays and improve care, which may prompt doctors to order scans more often.
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Don’t know if you read that article, but nothing in it attributes the increase in scans to “defensive medicine”, using whatever tortured definition you want.
It’s attributable to the profit motive of hospitals and insurers, according to Dr. Lazarus.
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