Anyone Want Out!?

Marie Curie

That's the question you often hear in the middle of a trauma code or any other emergency situation that requires a portable x-ray be performed while other members of the health care team are in the room.

There just aren't enough lead aprons to go around. Besides, those things weigh a ton and are entirely too cumbersome to function in. So, if preventing excess exposure to radiation is your thing...that question is your cue to leave the room.

Cat Scans, X-rays, MRIs, PET scanning and Nuclear Medicine are all used to treat and diagnose different diseases and medical conditions. Thank you Marie Curie. Although, her pioneering work in discovering radium and it's beneficial uses was the very thing that caused her death, radiation poisoning.

Earlier today I read where the governor of California, ol' Conan himself, has signed tough new legislation tightening oversight of diagnostic CT scans, largely in response to the overdosing of hundreds of patients who underwent brain scans for stroke in 2008 and 2009.

Quite a few of the patients I've cared for are under the impression that the more invasive the testing...the better the care is they're receiving. Sure, when it comes to definitively diagnosing serious illnesses...I'm all for exhausting every test known to the field of medicine. But coming into the emergency room with a headache shouldn't be an automatic ticket to take a ride in the CT machine.

A CT...just one is about the equivalent of 200 regular x-rays. That's a lot of radiation!

Physician know these tests aren't always necessary to treat or diagnose common ailments like headaches, upper respiratory infections and stomach pain...but society's propensity for malpractice lawsuits leave these guys doing whatever it takes to cover their asses. And if that means radiating the hell out of the general population. Then that's what they're going to do.

I remember an E.R. patient we had several years back. She presented five nights in a row with a complaint of the worst headache in her life.

She had a CT scan of her head every night. That's five CTs, or 1000 x-rays.

Staff in any radiology department in the country have to wear employee badges and radiation badges.

These badges are checked monthly to monitor the radiation levels of the staff. It's that serious people.

So, the next time you're not feeling your best whether it's headache, belly ache, or cough and runny nose....weigh your options and if the doctor orders a Cat scan...discuss it with him to make sure it's absolutely necessary.

It could mean the difference in you having a glowing future or just glowing in the dark in the future.