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 »

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 »

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can improve the diagnosis of many conditions in children without exposing them to ionizing radiation or sedation, according to a German radiologist.

Martin Stenzel, Dr. med., is a pediatric radiologist at the University Hospital in Jena, Germany. He reported no adverse effects after using CEUS to image about 50 pediatric patients at his hospital. He presented his findings … read more »

Hospitals in Michigan are trying in a variety of ways to reduce radiation exposure for their patients. The Henry Ford Health System, for example, requires approval from a radiologist before CT scans are performed.

Patricia Anstett, medical writer for the Detroit Free Press, reported on the trend in a story published Monday. She also found that:

Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn has spent … read more »

Five regional health systems in Minnesota and the state’s five largest medical payers have launched an initiative designed to reduce the number of unnecessary high-tech diagnostic imaging exams.

At the heart of the plan is a “clinical decision-support tool” called RadPort, from Nuance Communications of Burlington, Massachusetts, that can either be accessed via a Web site or embedded in an electronic … read more »

By 2020, the demand for radiologists could exceed supply by as much as 16 percent, according to a report by the physician-recruitment firm LocumTenens.com. It’s even possible, the report says, though “there are a lot of x-factors,” that we’ll see a job-growth boom like the one of 10 years ago.

“Retiring radiologists will exacerbate the problem,” the report says, “with 44 … read more »

The future of virtual colonoscopy seems … well, let’s just say the images are fuzzy.

Just last month, a study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, was “not cost-effective when reimbursed at the same rate as colonoscopy.”

Now comes an Italian study, published online tomorrow in the World … read more »