Doctors Overusing MRIs

Ever wonder if you go to see a doctor and they take a scan that they don't need? End up misdiagnosing you? Well, many doctors today are overusing the MRI and then even worse, inaccurately diagnosing their patients. This gives the doctor and facility where the scan was done an unneeded payment of over a thousand dollars. The article by Gina Kolata in the New York Times this past Saturday uses Mr. Steve Ganobcik as an example of unnecessary MRI, who was given the scan and diagnosed twice as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) from a skiing accident. However, after the accident, Mr. Ganobcik got right back up and kept skiing for the rest of his vacation before seeing a doctor. IRONIC? I think so, because I have seen a few people tear their ACL's and they usually aren't getting up from the ground anytime soon without help. Though I have never had an injury serious enough to need an MRI, I plan to go into the orthopedics field. Gina Kolata's article "Sports Medicine Said to Overuse A Popular Scan" questions multiple orthopedic specialists on unnecessary use of MRIs.

Gina Kolata's techniques in this article were effective in appealing to the audience's pathos and logos. She cites numerous orthopedic specialists and their universities of work, including Dr. James Andrews, Dr. Bruce Sangeorzan, Dr. Christopher DiGiovanni, Dr. Sigvard T. Hansen, Dr. Freddie H. Fu, and Dr. Andrew Green, which establishes credibility with the audience for these numerous expert professionals. Another technique that Kolata uses was the example of Mr. Ganobcik and his skiing accident. This example appealed to the audience's logos with the irony of Mr. Ganobcik being diagnosed with a torn ACL, but yet he was able to get back up and continue to ski for the next couple days of his vacation. Kolata also writes about Dr. Green's research on 101 patient cases of shoulder pain. Of those 101, forty three arrived with MRIs. However, Dr. Green was able to diagnose all of those cases based on a physical exam, patient history, and an X-ray. Kolata writes about similar research done by Dr. DiGiovanni and 221 foot and ankle patients, and found similar results with the patients not needing the MRIs. Those two research studies convince the audience that MRI scans are not as necessary as they think. The New York Times' "Sports Medicine Said to Overuse A Popular Scan" by Gina Kolata compilies research and professional opinions to prove that MRIs are used too much.
Source: Kolata, Gina. "Sports Medicine Said to Overuse A Popular Scan." The New York Times 29 Oct. 2011, New England ed., sec. Front Page: A1, A14. Print.