Newsroom

New Penalties to Control Whole Body CT Scans

June 8, 2003

NSW Health Minister, Morris Iemma, today announced strict new conditions and penalties for individuals and companies that offer whole body CT scans to healthy people without independent medical advice.

The new conditions mean registered owners and licensed operators of CT scanning machines could now face fines of up to $27,500 (for an individual) and $165,000 (for a corporation) and / or up to two years in jail for breaches of the Radiation Control Act 1990.

"CT machines have a valuable place in the medical world for examining suspected problems. But they should only be used in accordance with professional medical advice," Mr Iemma said.

"Evidence shows that whole body scans expose people to very high levels of radiation, sometimes up to 500 times more than the standard chest x-ray. These new conditions are simply designed to protect the public against inappropriate use of the devices."

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) flagged the new conditions with the scanning industry in November 2002 following a joint EPA / NSW Health investigation into radiation levels associated with whole body scans. It has now exercised its authority to vary license conditions by informing all licensees in writing in the past fortnight.

As a result, it is now illegal to perform a whole body CT screening on a member of the public:

• Without a written request from an independent medical doctor;
• Unless the person undergoing a whole body scan has the scale of the radiation dose and the health risks involved explained fully to them (including that people under the age of 50 are more at risk of developing cancer as a result of this procedure); and
• Without the written & informed consent of the person undergoing the scan.

Mr Iemma said the conditions signalled the end of ad-hoc walk-in-walk-out whole body screening procedures in NSW, and were in line with worldwide medical opinion.

"The American College of Radiology issued a statement in September 2000 that said there was not enough evidence to justify whole body CT screening in people with no symptoms or family history of illness," he said.

"It also advised it was concerned the procedure would result in increased anxiety, unnecessary follow-up examinations and wasted expense, rather than being of benefit to a person's health.

"The changes to NSW regulations for whole body scans rely on the best medical opinion available," Mr Iemma said.

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