[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16289]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


            IN RECOGNITION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF RADIOLOGY

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                           HON. PETE SESSIONS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 28, 2013

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the International Day 
of Radiology, and draw attention to the vital role that diagnostic 
imaging and radiation therapy serve in the American health care system. 
The International Day of Radiology is observed annually on November 8--
an important date in medical and world history. On that day in 1895, 
Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays, which ultimately 
led to modern medical imaging and radiation therapy. This year, the 
118th anniversary of Roentgen's discovery, will focus on lung imaging, 
and be commemorated by many groups, including the American College of 
Radiology (ACR), the Radiological Society of North America and the 
European Society of Radiology.
  Radiologists (physicians with special training in imaging), radiation 
oncologists (physicians trained to treat cancer with radiation) and the 
imaging community continue to move medicine forward. Most recently, 
lung computed tomography (CT) scans were shown by clinical trials to 
significantly reduce lung cancer deaths among smokers. In response to 
the positive results generated from these trials, the ACR will issue CT 
lung cancer screening guidelines and standards. Nationwide, CT 
screening programs for lung cancer, including teams of health care 
providers from various medical specialties, will follow. These 
multidisciplinary screening programs will save tens of thousands of 
lives each year from the nation's leading cancer killer.
  Medical imaging has been shown to help lower many cancer and hospital 
mortality rates. A 2009 National Bureau of Economic Research (BEA) 
report found that individuals with greater access to imaging live 
longer than those with lesser access. Imaging exams also reduce the 
number of invasive surgeries, unnecessary hospital admissions and 
lengths of hospital stays, which can lower health care costs.
  The U.S. National Academy of Engineering recognized the tremendous 
contribution of medical imaging when it ranked imaging among the 20 
greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. Most telling, 
the New England Journal of Medicine named medical imaging one of the 
top 10 medical advances of the last 1,000 years.
  With its incredible impact on patients' health, and significant 
benefit to the American health care system, I am pleased to recognize 
the importance of diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology, and call 
attention to November 8 as the International Day of Radiology.

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