MRIs and the Perception of Risk - GEORGETOWN LAW.pdfVIP

Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2007 MRIs and the Perception of Risk Steven Goldberg Georget own University L aw Center, goldberg@ This paper can be downloaded ree of charge rom: /facpub/408 33 Am. J.L. Med. 229 (2007) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at : /facpub Part of the Health Law Commons GEORGETOWN LAW Faculty Publications 2007 MRIs and the Perception of Risk 33 Am. J.L. Med. 229-237 Steven Goldberg Professor of Law Georgetown University Law Center, goldberg@ This paper can be downloaded without charge from: Scholarly Commons: /facpub/408/ Posted with permission of the author American Journal of Law Medicine , 33 (2007): 229-237 © 2007 American Society of Law, Medicine Ethics Boston University School of Law MRIs and the Perception of Risk Steven Goldberg† I. INTRODUCTION The most important safety decision concerning MRIs was to change the name of the procedure. In the late 1970s, the procedure known as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) became magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) because of the negative connotations the word “nuclear” invited.1 Since then, the use of MRIs has flourished. The procedure is now routinely conducted to make medical diagnoses and to