Full-body scans—or scams?

Your patients are being bombarded with hype about full body CT scans. What should you tell them about these controversial tests?

By Dorothy L. Pennachio
Senior Editor

Turn on your radio, tune in Oprah, or flip through an issue of virtually any consumer magazine, and chances are you'll come across what The Wall Street Journal calls the biggest craze in preventive medicine since vitamin C. Full-body CT scans promise peace of mind to the worried well, and you don't even need a physician's referral.

The scans are nothing if not controversial. Proponents say the tests can pick up cancers and heart disease long before symptoms appear. "A Body Scan (neck to pelvis) can detect health problems at very early stages when cure rates are highest," claims one newspaper ad. "The procedure is fast, noninvasive, and affordable."

More than 100 clinics across the country offer neck-to-pelvis screens, and that number is growing quickly. Patients pay $800 to $1,500 out of pocket, since insurers generally don't cover the test if there's no strong clinical indication or referral from a physician. Patients get their results within 30 minutes. So what's the controversy?

Opponents say the scans expose patients to excessive levels of radiation and can engender either needless worry or a false sense of security. "It's impossible to find a doctor in favor of these scans who doesn't have a financial interest in a scanning facility," says Thomas H. Lee Jr., a Boston cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.