CT scan is very common in the United States now, having about 70 million performed in 2007. Although CT scans have great benefits, there’s a potential risk in having cancer because researchers found that they involve higher radiation doses compared to a conventional X-ray. It’s important for people to know the risks and benefits of CT scan before one is performed on them. The number of CT scan performed on a patient that would have the possibility of having a cancer depends on the type of CT scan used and the person’s sex and age. For example, an estimated one in 270 women and one in 600 men who undergo CT coronary angiography (a heart scan) at age 40 will develop cancer as a result. "The radiation exposure associated with CT has increased substantially over the past two decades, and efforts need to be undertaken to minimize radiation exposure from CT, including reducing unnecessary studies, reducing the dose per study and reducing the variation in dose across patients and facilities," according to an issue of JAMA/Archives journals. They declare that some patients are getting exposed to the radiation, hoping that it would be to their benefit, but the studies conducted may not have no result (JAMA and Archives Journals, 2010).

One issue regarding CT scan is using it incorrectly. For example, one case involving a 2½-year-old boy falling from his bed and complained about having neck pain. This led the X-ray technician to make the child undergo an hour of CT scans, where a procedure takes about two or three minutes. The X-ray technologist scanned the same area 151 times. She was fired due to the danger she put the child in because of CT scan radiation. Researchers believe that children have a higher risk of having long-term effects of radiation, including cancer (Walt, 2009).