Earlier in February, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said they want to work with manufacturers and doctors in an effort to reduce excessive radiation from medical scans like CT scans — which are primarily used in diagnosing brain injuries.

The FDA wants to require manufacturers of CT scanners and other imaging machines to include certain safety controls that prevent patients from receiving too much radiation.

Our brain injury lawyers know how important CT scans are for patients with brain injuries because the CT scan is a much more effective diagnostic tool than standard x-ray imaging.  The catch with CT scans, however, is that it can expose you to so much more radiation than the standard x-ray.  For instance, did you know one CT chest scan is the equivalent of about 400 chest x-rays?

The average total radiation exposure in American’s has almost doubled since 1980, mostly because of CT scans, and medical radiation is the cause of more than one-half of the population as opposed to previously when it was one-sixth.  Too much exposure to radiation can lead to some forms of cancer or tumors that can be potentially fatal.

Five months ago, problems were reported at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles regarding their CT scanning, and the FDA began their own investigation.  According to the reports, over 250 patients were exposed to too much radiation causing hair loss and skin redness.  Two other hospitals in California are being investigated because of the same problems.

The FDA is also trying to crack down on other types of high-dose radiation procedures such as nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy.  In nuclear medicine, nuclear particles are directly injected into the body to diagnose organ problems, and fluoroscopy uses a constant x-ray beam to view certain body parts in real time.

CT scans are popular because they’re cheap, quick and painless when it comes to getting 3D pictures for doctors, but our brain injury lawyers believe that if there is a safer way to diagnose these brain injuries, they should be considered.

Call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced brain injury attorneys and find out how we can help you.  We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.

YOUR TAKE

What do you think?  If CT scans are so effective, yet so dangerous, is it important for medical technology companies to explore safer alternatives?