Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Reading mammograms is hard enough, but what if you never even get the studies to review? That appears to be what happened at a Georgia hospital, where a radiologic technologist has been indicted on charges that she marked mammography exams as completed even though they hadn't been reviewed by a radiologist.
Authorities allege that due to the technologist's actions, some women who received mammograms at Perry Hospital in Perry, GA, were told their findings were normal even though the images hadn't been read by a radiologist. Nearly 1,300 women may have been affected, and 10 of the women had suspicious findings that required additional workup.
Hospital officials are now following up with the women -- and the technologist faces 10 counts of reckless conduct and 10 counts of computer fraud. Learn more by clicking here, or visit our Women's Imaging Digital Community at women.auntminnie.com.
Radiation risk and pregnant women
In other news, Canadian researchers this week released a new study that tracked the risk of radiation-induced cancers in the children of women who received CT or nuclear medicine studies while pregnant.
The good news: The researchers found that the children of women who received radiation-based imaging exams had no higher rates of cancer than the children of women who didn't get scanned. But the investigators said they couldn't rule out the possibility that fetal exposure to radiation-based imaging is carcinogenic, due to statistical reasons.
Get more details by clicking here, or visit our Pediatric Imaging Digital Community at pediatric.auntminnie.com.
