Hazards Of CT Scans Overstated

Concerns over possible radiation effects of CT scans detailed in a report last Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine should not scare people away from getting medically needed CT scans, as the scans play a critical role in saving the lives of thousands of people every day, according to an official with the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).

In a statement issued last Friday, Dr. John M. Boone, chairman of AAPM's science council, says that the "science community remains divided" over the radiation dose effects of CT scans and that the findings in the Journal article were based on "flawed assumptions" and were not conclusive. While agreeing with the Journal article's authors, Drs. David Brenner and Eric Hall, that CT scans should only be used judiciously and when medically necessary, Boone says CT experts in the AAPM "feel that much of the message of this article may be misconstrued or misunderstood by the press or by the public who may not be experts in CT."

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