Overall these studies indicate limited knowledge in medical professionals about radiation risks incurred to patients during common imaging tests, and an inability to correctly answer the common questions raised by patients [9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16].
Some radiation professionals disagree, arguing that there is no reason to protect against supposed effects that cannot be measured.
"Professional organizations conducted independent radiation studies that concluded that radiation levels emitted from backscatter units were below the acceptable limits," the report said.
The leading professional organization dedicated to radiation oncology has called for enhanced safety measures in administering medical radiation, including the establishment of the nation's first central database for the reporting of errors involving linear accelerators — machines that generate radiation — and CT scanners.
"With more and more women becoming eligible and more and more facilities closing it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that pretty soon there will be a vast access problem," said Joshua J. Cooper, the Congressional relations director for the American College of Radiology, a professional society for radiologists, radiation oncologists and medical physicists.
WASHINGTON — A dozen witnesses, including representatives of virtually all of the leading professional groups in medical radiation, told a House subcommittee during a hearing Friday that more needed to be done to make sure that radiation continues to help, not harm, patients.
The goal of this work is to survey patients' current knowledge level of both medical exposure to ionizing radiation and professional disciplines and communication means used by patients to garner information.
In addition, professional training and peculiar radiation protection are also required during the process.
The lack of guidelines established by nuclear medicine and radiation oncology professional societies renders this task more complex.
Recent surveys show that there is limited understanding and level of awareness among healthcare professionals about dosimetry and radiation risks associated with imaging pregnant women [14].
