Judging from the results of a new Canadian study, ordering an echocardiogram before major noncardiac surgery does more harm than good.

Specifically, the study found no evidence that patients who underwent a presurgery echocardiogram had improved survival rates one year after surgery. Some patients—those who had two or fewer risk factors for postoperative cardiac complications and who had not undergone cardiac … read more »

A prestigious medical organization, asked to analyze the Food and Drug Administration’s “fast-track” approval process for medical devices, took nearly two years to conclude that:

The process is fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped;
Even though it hasn’t actually approved any unsafe or ineffective devices;
And the organization has no specific recommendations for a replacement process.

Can you blame the FDA for responding, in … read more »

Heart Check America, a multistate chain that offers full-body CT scans and other “preventive imaging,” suffered the latest in a series of legal blows last week when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued the company.

The attorney general accused owner Sheila Haddad and manager David Haddad, her son, of using “unfair and deceptive business practices” to pressure customers into 10-year screening … read more »

Would you expect your first visit to a weight-loss clinic to start with an ultrasound thyroid exam and an electrocardiogram?

According to the FBI, that’s what sometimes happened at five Chicago-area clinics (two of which appear to have closed suddenly) operated by Gautam Gupta, MD. The FBI thinks those tests were part of an insurance fraud scheme.

Dr. Gupta is, according to … read more »

Until recently, two cardiologists in Jackson, Tennessee, had squared off, with two hospitals and a radiologist drawn into the fray, over sensational but secret charges of fraudulent billing, kickbacks, illicit self-referrals, and deliberate overuse of medical services.

Earlier this month, a heavyweight joined the fight. The federal Department of Justice ended the secrecy by intervening on the side of the whistleblower—but … read more »

The National Physicians Alliance (NPA) seems to think there’s entirely too much imaging going on. On Monday, it released three “top five” lists that collectively contain seven recommendations against certain imaging practices.

The lists “reflect common clinical activities in primary care where the quality of care could be improved,” according to an NPA news release.

This project started in 2009 with a … read more »

The Denver office of Heart Check America, a national “preventive imaging” company, closed last week after state regulators ordered it to stop performing scans without doctors’ referrals and properly licensed supervising physicians.

The company advertised directly to the public, offering its services without a referral. According to the Denver Post, the X-ray Certification Unit of the Colorado Department of Public Health … read more »

Nanotechnology is leading to new generations of imaging contrast agents. Most recently, Korean scientists said they’ve developed a process for making a safe, relatively inexpensive nanoparticle imaging agent for CT scans of the heart and lymph nodes.

Actually, the researchers said the new agent lasts long enough in the body to enable imaging of many different organs. And studies on rats … read more »

It seems that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware (BCBSD) hired a company that guaranteed it could save the insurer 20 percent on cardiac nuclear imaging exams and other high-tech scans.

Well, there’s only one way the contractor could do that, right? Disallow payment for as many such tests as possible.

An investigation by Delaware’s Department of Insurance found that the contractor … read more »

Preliminary research in Toronto indicates that a special formulation of antioxidants taken orally before imaging can reduce cell damage from ionizing radiation by as much as 50 percent.

“In our initial small study, we found that preadministering to patients a proprietary antioxidant formulation resulted in a notable dose-dependent reduction in DNA injury,” said Kieran J. Murphy, MD. He added:
This could play … read more »