BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 510
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 19, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

              AB 510 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Amended:  January 13, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:16-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill makes technical and clarifying changes to 
          record-keeping and reporting requirements that were recently 
          instituted for computed tomography (CT) scans.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state fiscal impact.  The California Department of 
          Public Health (CDPH) is already tasked with overseeing 
          record-keeping and receiving reports related to over-radiation 
          events.  

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . The sponsor of this legislation, the California 
            Hospital Association, indicates that this bill provides the 
            clarity and specificity needed to guide reporting and 
            record-keeping standards at facilities administering CT exams. 
             SB 1237 (Padilla), Chapter 521, Statutes of 2010 required 
            facilities to record radiation dosage information and report 
            mistakes associated with CT scans, such as over-radiation or 
            radiation of an incorrect body part.   This bill answers 
            specific outstanding technical questions related to 
            implementation of the standards.    

           2)Background  . Computed tomography (CT) is a diagnostic procedure 
            that uses X-ray technology and computer image processing to 
            create cross-sectional pictures of the human body. Common 
            diagnostic uses of CT include identifying broken bones, 
            cancers, blood clots, signs of heart disease, and internal 
            bleeding.  Recently, the major growth area in CT use in 
            children has been in diagnosis of appendicitis; for adults, 








                                                                  AB 510
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            there is a projected increase in new CT-based screening 
            programs for asymptomatic patients, including virtual 
            colonoscopy, CT lung screening, and CT cardiac screening.

           3)Risks Related to CT Use  . Dramatic growth over the last 30 
            years in the use of CT screening, as well as projected future 
            growth, has prompted concerns that the increasing exposure to 
            radiation in the population may increase cancer risk.  In 
            addition, recent publicity of cases of excess radiation 
            exposure has highlighted the risk of errors associated with CT 
            scans, including inaccurate radiation dosage, unintended 
            multiple scans, and scans of the wrong area of the body.  

           4)Previous Legislation  . SB 1237 (Padilla), Chapter 521, Statutes 
            of 2010 imposed standards on facilities using CT scans, 
            including requirements related to dosage record-keeping, 
            facility accreditation, and radiation overdose reporting.

            SB 38 (Padilla), Chapter 139, Statutes of 2011 was a technical 
            cleanup measure that changed the operative date of the 
            reporting requirement in AB 1237 to July 1, 2012.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081