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The New York Times, in a front-page report, announced, “To help ensure that medical radiation is safe, Medicare insists that certain highly technical cancer treatments be administered only when a patient’s radiation oncologist is present or nearby.” Federal officials say physicians who fail to adequately supervise technicians during radiotherapy risk patient safety. But, the issue also “raises questions about financial incentives and the overuse of high-tech, and highly reimbursed, treatments” when “less advanced and cheaper ones would have served just as well.”
As a result, “Congress passed an antikickback law designed to stop doctors from” unnecessarily ordering “tests or procedures in which they have a financial interest,” according to the report. In addition, “radiation safety will be the subject of a Congressional hearing Friday.” For its part, “the American College of Radiology has said that self-referral endangers patients because doctors tend to order more tests.”
Before undergoing any diagnostic test or invasive procedure, your doctor should describe all benefits and risks of the procedure and he or she should explain all alternative options as well.
About the author:
Mr. Zambri is a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. and has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a “Big Gun” and among the “top 1%” of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as “one of Washington’s best–most honest and effective lawyers” who specializes in personal injury matters, including product liability, medical malpractice, and automobile accident claims. Mr. Zambri has also been named a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2009)–a national publication that honors the top lawyers in America.
Mr. Zambri was sought after to publish a chapter regarding product liability litigation in Aspatore Books – a company that is touted as “the largest and most exclusive publisher of C-1 Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, Partner) from the world’s most respected companies and law firms.” To read Mr. Zambri’s publication, entitled “Constantly Preparing To Win”, please click here.
If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at [email protected] or call him at 202-822-1899.
