Radiation Injury Ranks Number One As A Health Technology Hazard
Over 700 healthcare workers signed a pledge to use less radiation at last week’s Radiological Society of North America’s annual conference. At issue – radiation injuries. The ECRI Institute has compiled a list of what it considers the top ten health technology hazards and ranks radiation injuries as number one.
Radiation injuries are caused by inappropriate exposure to radiation and may be significant and devastating. Health care providers and physicians are trained to give appropriate doses of radiation. When they fail to comply with the standard of care, health care providers and physicians may be found guilty of medical malpractice and held liable for damages caused by a radiation injury.
According to the ECRI report, radiation therapy overdose and other dosing errors constitute a significant source of concern, noting “there’s been a rapid growth in the number of treatment systems and an increase in their complexity…And while dosing errors are relatively rare, they can have devastating health consequences.”
Number 4 on the list is “high radiation dose of CT scans.” The report notes, “while the increased risk of cancer from excessive CT-related radiation is tough to quantify, it clearly is a risk that health-care facilities must take steps to mitigate.”
Hopefully as a result of the pledge and other efforts to raise awareness of the growing problem of radiation errors, these types of devastating medical harm will decrease.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice involving radiation injuries, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP today.
