Unregistered

I am not a radiologist, and likely Becky works in that field where I don't, so please keep that in mind.

My answer is "it depends". It isn't a perfect world. Managed care can mean a less expensive diagnostic procedure or technique is used more often (a procedure with radiation, as opposed to MRI).

While a drug given for imaging may be minimal and may leave the body in a very short period of time, any rads received by that method is cumulative and doesn't leave the body.

Radiation has the potential to cause cancer. So at least theoretically the more often one has radiation and the higher the dose, the greater the possibility there is that it could be a legitimate concern.

For example, if you have had procedures with radiation over time in different radiation facilities, can they answer the question "what is your current cumulative dose of radiation"?

I do agree with Becky in that radiation still has a real role in treating and tracking cancer and sometimes means getting rads as part of that. Why aren't we given personal radiation badges that keep count of the rads we receive, just like workers in the field of radiation?

AlaskaAngel