In Wake of Radiation ODs, CT Scans Get New Rules

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 professionals to share dosing information to set standards.

To give patients some agency, the FDA has floated the idea of personal imaging history cards, which would keep a record of the amount of radiation received. “We're trying to optimize that benefit while lowering the risk” of CT scans, an official says. Enhh, says one doctor. The new rules don’t address the wider and potentially more deadly problem of the overuse of diagnostic radiation. “Too many CT scans being done without medical justification,” he says.
(More CT scans stories.)