Unnecessary Tests

2010-03-12T03:00:54Z

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2007, file photo released by the University of Wisconsin Medical School shows a virtual colonoscopy, a 3-D image that was computer-generated from a series of X-rays taken by a CT scanner. Virtual colonoscopies are just one of the many costly medical tests that recent reports have said are being done too often. (AP Photo/ Courtesy of President Obama</div><div><p>Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggests that many Americans are being overtreated. Maybe even President Barack Obama, champion of an overhaul and cost-cutting of the health care system.</p><p>Is it doctors practicing defens...

Guidelines: Do medical tests later, less often

2010-03-12T02:45:19Z

<div id="subtitle">Are some medical tests overused? Some guidelines are scaling back on frequency, timing</div><div><p>Recent reports and guideline changes suggest some medical tests should be delayed, avoided, or done less often:</p><p>_ MAMMOGRAM: Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and they should get one every two years starting at 50, according to the

ANGIOGRAM

2010-03-10T14:18:43Z

Graphic shows how a cardiac angiogram is administered

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Fetus Picture 3D Ultrasound Advantages

2010-03-10T20:42:32Z

Do you want a clear and more complete picture of youth child while it is in the womb? For years, it has been hard to make out those unclear ultrasound pictures and accurately notice what going on in there. This is no longer the case. There are now 3D ultrasound fetus pictures that can show you your child in incredible detail. Today when you go to have your ultrasound, you can experience your child in complete 3D with stunning ımages and well explained features.<br><br>Whe...

Harry Smith colonoscopy to air on `Early Show'

2010-03-09T07:15:54Z

<div id="subtitle">Co-anchor Harry Smith's colonoscopy to air live on Wednesday's `The Early Show'</div><div><p>"The Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith is scheduled to have a colonoscopy Wednesday, with live reports planned as he undergoes the procedure at a New York hospital.</p><p>CBS says it will ...

Experts seek more oversight of medical radiation

2010-02-26T15:00:46Z

<div><p>CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. government needs to establish national guidelines for controlling the amount of radiation a patient gets from diagnostic exams and treatments and the level of training required by a medical technician who delivers it, experts told a congressional panel on Friday.</p><p>...

Makers pledge to add safeguards to CT scanners

2010-02-25T13:15:59Z

<div><p>CHICAGO (Reuters) - An industry group representing the top five manufacturers of CT equipment said on Thursday the companies will add new safeguards to their machines to help prevent patients from being exposed to too much radiation.</p><p>The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance said manufacturers will add a color-coded warning system to give h...

Radiation Scans Safety

2010-02-25T13:01:57Z

FILE - In this June 15, 2007 file photo, Michael Gomez, a nuclear medicine technologist, talks to a patient before a positron emission tomography cat scan, or PET-CT, at River Radiology in Kingston, N.Y. A medical imaging trade group said Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010, that manufacturers of CT scanners will begin installing safety controls to prevent patients from receiving e...

Newer heart CTs deliver far less radiation-US study

2010-02-23T03:45:14Z

<div><p>CHICAGO (Reuters) - Newer CT technology that can capture an image of a beating heart in a single beat may offer one way of reducing a patient's exposure to excess radiation, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.</p><p>They said patients who got a type of heart scan called coronary angiography using th...

Survey finds states cutting back on mammograms

2010-02-22T12:30:25Z

<div><p>CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some U.S. states have begun using controversial new breast cancer screening guidelines to stop offering routine mammograms for uninsured women in their 40s, a survey by the Avon Foundation for Women released ...

CDC: MRIs, other medical scans in ER quadruple

2010-02-22T09:04:13Z

<div><p>The use of high-tech diagnostic imaging in emergency rooms has quadrupled since the mid-1990s, according to a new government report released Wednesday.</p><p>MRI, CT or PET scans were done or ordered in 14 percent of ER visits in 2007, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. That's four ti...

Millions missing out on colon cancer screening

2010-02-22T09:26:14Z

<div><p>Nearly half the people who need potentially lifesaving checks for the nation's No. 2 cancer killer — colorectal cancer — miss them, despite years of public efforts to make colon screening as widespread as tests for breast and prostate cancer.</p><p>But what if you opened your mailbox one day to find an at-home test kit, no doctor's appointment needed?</p><p>The dreaded colonoscopy may get the most attenti...

Pricey scans have no impact in breast cancer: study

2010-02-22T09:59:35Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Expensive extra scans using MRI on breast cancer patients make no difference to the number of patients who have a repeat operation, scientists said on Friday, raising questions about whether the scans are worth it.</p><p>A study of 1,623 women with breast cancer found that those who have a conventional triple assessment of their cancer are no more l...

FDA aims to rein in radiation-based medical scans

2010-02-22T10:36:02Z

<div><p>Federal regulators will require manufacturers of high-grade medical imaging machines to include safety controls that prevent patients from receiving excessive radiation doses.</p><p>The proposal announced Tuesday is part of a multipronged effort to address reports of acute injuries as well as reduce lifetime exposure to radiation, which has nearly doubled since 1980.</p><p>The Michael Gomez, a nuclear medicine technologist, talks to a patient before a positron emission tomography cat scan, or PET-CT, at River Radiology in Kingston, N.Y, In a proposal announced Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, federal regulators will require manufacturers of high-grade medical imaging machines to include safety controls that prevent patients from rece...

U.S. seeks new safeguards for medical imaging tests

2010-02-22T10:35:25Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials want manufacturers of CT machines and certain other medical imaging devices to incorporate new safeguards to help reduce patient exposure to radiation.</p><p>The U.S. Food and Drug Ad...

Glance: Rising radiation exposure tied to imaging

2010-02-22T10:32:14Z

<div><p>The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it will work with doctors and manufacturers to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure from medical scans, a problem that has been growing for decades.</p><p>The initiative will focuses on high-grade forms of imaging, including CT scans, nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy. Since the 1980s these technologi...

Hologic fiscal 1Q earnings down 32 pct on charges

2010-02-22T12:54:46Z

<div id="subtitle">Hefty charges drag down Hologic's fiscal 1st-quarter profit, but results top expectations</div><div><p>Hologic Inc., which makes mammogram systems and other women's health diagnostic tools, said Monday its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 32 percent, hurt by charges and continued capital spending restraint by hospitals.</p><p>But the compa...

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