Times-Advocate, 1979-08-15, Page 25 (2)By JACK RIDDELL
MPP Huron -Middlesex
There has been con-
siderable controversy on the
subject of x-rays since a
team of three physicists and
an engineer• released a
report stating that excessive
radiation from x-ray
machines causes some 20
cases of leukemia in Ontario
each year.
This is a statistical
estimate based •on
preliminary findings in a
survey of 20 hospitals during
1977 and 1978, which show
some five percent of hospital
x-ray machines emit ex-
ceptionally high doses of
radiation because they are
not adjusted properly.
During debate on this
disclosure, we learned that
no certification is needed in
Ontario to permit a doctor,
dentist or chiropractor to
establish and run an x-ray
clinic. Such certification to
guarantee that a clinic is
being run safely, that staff is
properly trained and that
patients are properly cared
for, is issued by the Ontario
Medical Association on a
voluntary basis only, and
apparently of a total of 686
hospital and medical
premises using x-ray
equipment, only 207 have
volunteered for certification.
We also learned that fewer
than one-third of the
Ministry of Health's own x-
ray equipment operators.
working in chest clinics
around the province are
registered radiological
technicians. There was
considerable concern about
a 1973 Health _Ministry
report, on which no •govern-
ment action had been taken,
which warned that
chiropractors who owned
their own equipment ad-
ministered an excessive
number of x-rays and
� .00b4=?':'- . .. :.. xwua',�?'ana„4,�� s& s. e'�°»�Fe°� : aZ'F:h.: ftX'.sb'Lher'
Controversy surrounds X-ray practices
recommended that they no
longer be able to claim from
OHIP for x-rays, but instead
be allowed to refer patients
to radiologists.
A spokesman for Ontario
tJ»ropractors stated, at a
press conference, that it
• would be a big mistake to
ban such x-rays which are a
necessary diagnostic tool.
He said that chiropractors
receive about 450 hours of
classroom and on-the-job
instruction in the use of these
.machines during the four
year course offered •by the
Canadian Memorial
Chiropractic College in
Toronto.
The controversy about x-
rays is not confined to
Ontario. A professor of the
Harvard Medical School
sounded the alarm in the
June issue of the N"
England .. Journal of
Medicine.
He stated that it's
sometimes easier for doctors
-to order x-rays than think;
that radiologists take too
many pictures during x-rays
of the kidney, spine, heart
and skull; that follow-up
films for a healed duodenal
ulcer are often unjustified;
that it is ludicrous for some
• hospitals to take daily x-rays
.to follow the course of
pneumonia; that 38 percent
of patients having routine
chest films for admission to
hospital had already had one
taken earlier that year.
There were other problem
areas. For instance, 50
percent of U.S. technologists
did not meet the standards of
their professional society, i
and some 27 million repeat x-
rays had to be taken because
films were either too dark or
too light, or the patient had -
been positioned the wrong
way. He concluded that
poorly trained technicians
were one of the major
problems in the U.S. medical
world.
In the midst of the resent
controversy in Ontario, the
two radiation experts who
originally sounded the alarm
here. issued a statement •
urging the public not to 0
refuse any x-ray prescribed
by a doctor, because by
refusing such a diagnostic
examination the patient runs
a greater risk from failure to •
find serious disease.
According to them, the r
risk of getting cancer from F`
an abdominal x-ray .is equal
to that of smoking 32
cigarettes. They also said C
that work is well under way
to correcimg,_.tbe situation
•
REPRESENTS EXETER — Tracey Campbell. representing
Exeter fair. will be among 95 contestants seeking the Miss
CNE Queen of the Fairs title when the Canadian National
Exhibition opens today. Tracey won the local fair title last
year
To hold benefit
Patrons will have one last
chance to see This Foreign
Land at the Blyth Summer
Festival this year. A benefit
performance of the play has
been scheduled for Saturday,
August 18 at 2 p.m. All
proceeds from the per-
formance will be donated to
the Actors' Fund of the
Canadian Actors Equity
Association.
Actors. technicians and
administrative staff will be
volunteering their time and
services, over and above
their regular duties, in order
to make this performance a
success. The total of all
admissions paid to the
performance will be used to
aid those actors who through
illness or misfortune, have
become unable to practise
their craft.
Admission to this per-
formance is at regular
Festival prices --$4.25 for
•adults, $3.50 for senior
citizens and $2.50 for
children. Reservations for
the performance must be
made through the Festival's
main box office (phone 523-
9300) .
The final performance of
This Foreign Land will be
that evening, August 18, at
8:30 p.m.
A physician writing .a
column in a Toronto paper
suggests that patients should
follow the same approach as
doctors, who never submit to
questionable films. The key
question to ask, he says, is
"Would you get x-rays,
doctor, if you had this
problem?"
Obviously, any major
change in body function is
cause foriconcern although
sometimes the symptoms
have a comparatively simple
explanation. In many in-
stances, films are only
necessary if time and
moderation fail to relieve the
situation.
Doctors tend to protect
their families from defensive
x-rays. It's been estimated
that in the United States
about 30 percent of all x-rays
are done for fear of future
malpractice suits.
Physicians want to use every
precaution to guarantee that
nothing has been overlooked.
A member of a doctor's
family is likely -to have a
sprained ankle strapped up
and forget about an x-ray.
Similarly a doctor's child
won't be subjected to x-rays
of the skull unless there's
been a serious injury. They
know that only one in every
thousand skull films done on
children ever shows a
fracture.
Jack's Jottings
What about dental x-rays?
Most physicians agree to
full -mouth films every few
years. Then selective ones at
yearly visits. However, they
would doubtless object to a
complete series of x-rays
every six months or even
once a year.
The physician advises
"Never urge your r doctor to
take x-rays, or 'think he's
behind ` the times for not
recommending them."
Times -Advocate August 15, 1979
Page 13A
`� COMPLETE '
aMbCOVERAGE FOR
' �
�Q►• Home ' Farm �4
•life
' Commercial
' Automobile
Registered Retirement Plans
CONTACT
Bev Morgan Insurance
Agency Ltd.
238 Maur St. Phone 235-2544 Exeter
Acro" hnm Savewav Lumber
ti
i
Ub`;ea
for P tjO
e recipe Fun Ic
tion
r favourite can be
s your
Cooking Special
c�
s SUbrn
I r
from ale��pe $ 5r
de fr. of 2
be ma rile f �1 5
�N�II first p rile o s10,
drag
second P e of
A Seco prize .�
third
and p►S
today
ov< <ec; pvooday
Ma\\ y10 Pd ete�
te
B oX
E....IS.
G
i • GEE*
.
.
•
1 •
r
through educational 1....
programs for staff operating .
the x-ray machines and n,
inspections in hospitals ■■•
•
throughout Ontario, with ••.
equipment being readjusted ...
where necessary. le■■■.
In future. they maintain i '
that groups of radiation ' ,
experts will have to be i
stationed in hospitals and i
clinics across the province to
ensure quality.
a
•
a•••
•
1
v� '
. r o' ° ecipes •
o��ect,o orite c
o c s fav°
re�
ti.•
■
THAN
��
EveryoneI Bo`nafor making our-nia Sale a big success.
The remaining Summer Merchandise will still be
sold at 60% OFF the suggested retail price until
this stock +s depleted.
4t, •
twit aluliatialts.tq_.e :sle jetin'winners.
Hilda Bax
• Joane Perry
Cathy Heywood
Kathy Stilson
Lynn Dobson
Melissa Dark
THANKS
AGAIN
1••••/
•
.
.
.
.
.
.
•
.
1
1
.
r••.•
.r
s
••••
••••••eN•••1
••mays
4 •,'Y,
It ■I.•f •
4...
••■
•••
.••
••
• ••
Z1
•
•4
1
r
.••e••,•
, .414a: OOOOOOO pea
e
•
.
R1
i
.•Sm.as!!!!e••.
.'-
• Y
e.
W.
•rir•i+,,=tai?%'
1