This is an incredibly important issue. The fear that one will be sued and possibly lose their license is one that factors into the way many physicians practice

This is an incredibly important issue. The fear that one will be sued and possibly lose their license is one that factors into the way many physicians practice, and at the end of the day, the patient's suffer both financially and physically. For example, appendicitis is largely a clinical diagnosis, meaning that a diagnosis can be made solely on the patient's presenting symptoms and lab values, and subsequently rushed to the OR for surgery. A CT scan is not necessary, and should be used if the patient's presentation is not a typical one. However, at many hospitals, CT scans are performed as part of the routine work-up. CT scans can cost $1500 a pop, and the radiation received from one is at least 10 times the dose you'd get from an x-ray, which increases your risk for cancer. In 2007, there were 68 million CT scans performed. We perform 5 scans for every 1 in France [1]. We perform the most MRI scans, which range anywhere from $2k to $5k [2][3]. Do you think we're on the whole healthier than those in France? I would hazard a guess and say that we aren't. In fact, with the amount of radiation we're giving our patients, we're likely hurting them quite a bit. Japan, our rivals for the gold medal in imaging volume, recently conducted a study that showed that 3.2 percent of cancer cases were caused by imaging radiation [4]. And I'm talking about just one largely unnecessary test performed to diagnose one condition. You can imagine the bigger, sadder picture. Many, many physicians don't even think twice about the amount of radiation they're giving to their patients, or how much they're costing the system, or the incentives they're giving companies who are a part of this chain of inflation to continue to sell scanners and charge exorbitant amounts. They order the tests because they don't want a lawsuit at the expense of patients' health and pockets. I don't necessarily blame them. Out of the thousands of patients a doctor sees, all it takes is one minor slip-up to drag them into a legal battle that may very well tarnish their record, cost millions of dollars, and result in losing their license. [1] http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/health_glance-2009-en/04/03/g4-02-04.html?contentType=%2Fns%2F+Chapter%2C%2Fns%2FStatisticalPublication&itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fserial%2F19991312 http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/health_glance-2009-en/04/... [2] http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/health_glance-2009-en/04/03/g4-02-03.html?contentType=%2Fns%2F+Chapter%2C%2Fns%2FStatisticalPublication&itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fserial%2F19991312 http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/health_glance-2009-en/04/... [3] http://www.newchoicehealth.com/MRI-Cost http://www.newchoicehealth.com/MRI-Cost [4] http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/6035.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/6035.php