Ethical Issues in Diagnostic Radiology
X-rays have been used in clinical diagnosis for about a hundred years. But the field of diagnostic imaging has expanded rapidly in the last three decades—as rapidly as any other sector of clinical medicine. CT and MRI were introduced in the ‘70s, the PET scan in the ’80s, and the MR angiogram and virtual colonoscopy are products of the new millennium. The November issue examines some ethical and educational challenges brought about by the transformation and widespread use of imaging technology and asks some lingering questions about the accuracy of the centenarian X-ray itself.