CT scans can be better medicine for doctors than for patients

Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2008

Introduced in the 1970s, computed tomography scans have become a standard procedure for common problems. Doctors in the U.S. ordered 68.7 million CT scans last year, more than triple the number in 1995, according to IMV Medical Information Division. Generating tens of billions of dollars in billing each year, CT scanning has become an economic engine for hospitals and doctors. But with the boom has come a rising concern that the abundant use of radiation is beginning to have a subtle effect on the health of the nation.