harm than good — unnecessarily alarming parents of children who need CT scans. Medical imaging does save and extend lives every day. The benefits of a necessary scan always outweigh any associated risk. And a great deal has been done regarding patient safety in the many years since the negative examples provided in the article.

campaign (www.imagegently.org), has adopted a responsible and balanced approach to managing medical imaging dose. Seventy-eight medical and dental societies and agencies worldwide have joined the Alliance, pledging to use the lowest effective radiation dose, to ensure that imaging procedures are necessary and appropriate, to raise awareness of dose issues, to educate the public and to advocate for child safety in imaging. What’s more, Image Gently has actually provided the protocols and information necessary to help providers lower the dose delivered to patients and worked with imaging equipment manufacturers to help make scanners more responsive to efforts to lower dose. The risk of cancer from low-level radiation such as from a single CT scan is unproven, and incredibly small, if it exists at all. Yet, providers are taking the issue seriously and have gone to great lengths to protect patients. The life saving benefits of these exams in the care for individuals of all ages is proven and widely known. We strongly urge parents to discuss with their doctor any imaging exam prescribed, but not to forego necessary exams due to the limited information in the article.