Some Calif. patients not told of radiation overdose

As we reported earlier this week [1], hundreds of patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles received more than eight times the normal dose of radiation when getting diagnostic scans, a problem that wasn't detected for a full 18 months. Last week, the hospital said it had given 206 patients who received the radiation overdoses complete information on what took place.

Now, it's come out at that at least four of the patients who suffered these radiation overdoses weren't even told that they'd had a significant overexposure to radiation. While Cedars-Sinai asked the patients whether they'd lost any hair, the physicians didn't tell the patients that they'd received massive doses of radiation, according to a UPI report.

One patient, Larry Biggles, was asked by a doctor about headaches, hair loss and vision problems, but "the word 'radiation' never came out of his mouth," he told the wire service.

State and federal officials are looking into the matter, which has since prompted the FDA to suggest that all hospitals check their CT scanners.

To learn more about this issue:
- read this UPI piece [2]

Related Articles:
FDA: Patients overexposed to radiation during perfusion CT imaging [3]
Hundreds of radiation overdoses went undetected for 18 months [1]
Study: Radiation exposure from medical scans up dramatically [4]