CT scans news stories on Newser

CT Scans Cut Lung Cancer Deaths 20%

Nick McMaster — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:57:15 CDT

CT scans of smokers can detect lung cancer at an early phase and cut the death rate by 20%, says a new study. Duke University researchers found that the scans were much better than regular chest X-rays at catching tumors at a more treatable phase, reports USA Today . The results...

CT Scan Overuse Raises Radiation, Cancer Fears

Jane Yager — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:00:00 CDT

The top radiation source Americans should be worrying about isn't airport scanners or microwaves—it's medical tests. The US leads the world in the amount of radiation its population gets from medical scans, and the average American's dose has grown more than sixfold in recent decades. Patients are being given...

In Wake of Radiation ODs, CT Scans Get New Rules

Harry Kimball — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:52:07 CST

CT scans will come with new safeguards ordered by the FDA yesterday, following accidental radiation overdoses last year at hospitals in California and Alabama. The agency is also looking at software fixes for existing equipment to reduce the possibility of unsafe dosage, reports the the Los Angeles Times , and encouraging...

CT Scans Cause Cancer: Study

Kevin Spak — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:00:37 CST

The overuse of CT scans could be causing 14,500 cancer deaths a year, according to two studies published today. Researchers found that machines varied widely in how much radiation they exposed patients to, often leading to big, hidden risk. A typical chest scan, for example, is the equivalent of...

Probe of Radiation ODs Spreads to 4 Sites

Rob Quinn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:05:21 CST

The FDA has widened a probe into radiation overdoses received during brain scans to include four hospitals, and now suspects the problem could be nationwide. Three hospitals in Los Angeles County and one in Alabama are being investigated after patients received up to eight times the normal amount of radiation...

Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too

Will McCahill — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:20:04 CST

In a finding that pokes holes in the thinking that our modern fast-food lifestyle is behind heart disease, scientists have discovered that Egypt’s mummies, too, had hardened arteries. “Atherosclerosis is not just a disease of modern times,” one researcher tells WebMD . “It’s part of the human condition.” CT scans found...

LA Patients Get Deadly Blast of Radiation in Screw-Up

Kevin Spak — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 CDT

A mistake at LA’s famed Cedars-Sinai hospital has subjected more than 200 patients to dangerous levels of radiation. Everyone who has come to the hospital with a suspected stroke since February 2008 has gotten eight times the normal dose of radiation, the LA Times reports. That was when technicians programmed...

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests

Matt Cantor — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:25:01 CDT

As Congress wrestles with health-care reform, studies show it’s tough to regulate the status quo: Doctors’ “self-referrals” for medical imaging have continued despite efforts to legislate against them, the Washington Post reports. Doctors who own the equipment that scans patients stand to make more cash—and tend to order a...

Troop Autopsies Yield Life-Saving Clues

Rob Quinn — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:39:44 CDT

Navy pathologist Capt Craig T. Mallak's groundbreaking decision to order autopsies on every US casualty killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has helped save the lives of American troops, the New York Times reports. The autopsies—and, since 2004, CT scans—have allowed the military to build a huge database on...