By Megan Doyle
Herald & News Staff Writer

Doctors call them unnecessary and costly.

Proponents of body scans say they are preventative and don’t do any harm.

But both sides agree people with medical problems should visit their health care providers.

“Anybody that’s sick, we don’t want to see them.  They should go back to their doctors,” said Warren Green, owner and director of Ultra Life, a Huntington Beach, Calif., company that provides body scans using ultrasound technology.

The company’s mobile unit will be in Klamath Falls Wednesday, charging $45 to $500 for a variety of body organ scans.  The tests are not covered by medical insurance.

Dr. Ralph Eccles, president of the Klamath Medical Society, believes body scans done without a doctor’s referral are unnecessary and might create a false sense of security for patients who, depending on the results, assume they have no risk of illness.

Fliers advertising the body scans were distributed in Klamath Falls and were included as an advertising insert in the Herald and News.

Green said his clients include children whose parents want them tested for heart problems, and older people, curious about the health of their organs.

“There’s no radiation or harm at all,” he said, adding that patients get results in the mail within about three weeks.  “I’d like to think that everyone would give their results to their doctor.”

But Eccles, who works with Oregon Health Science University, said if a patient comes to see him with results from a body scan, he’ll likely re-do the test and have his own radiologists analyze it or do another type of test that may be more fitting for the symptoms. 

Green said the Ultra Light body scans are done by certified technicians and analyzed by medical doctors throughout Oregon, Washington and California.

But Eccles still questions results of body scans by companies like Ultra Light.  “If you really do have a heart problem and need a heart scan, then your cardiologist should be doing the interpretation of that scan,” he said.

OHSU emphasizes evidence-based medicine, he said.  Eccles won’t allow a test if there is no evidence it will help identify the cause of specific symptoms.

“We have a false belief in our country that we have such advanced technology that we can detect everything, that we can cure anything,” he said.  “Body scans done without any symptoms have never been shown…to save lives.”

An ultrasound or body scan will pick up some abnormalities, but further testing would need to be done for a diagnosis, he said.

Ultrasound tests are not always the best way to determine if there is a problem, he added.  Sometimes, a stress test, where a person is strapped to electrodes and put on a treadmill, will get better results, especially for heart problems.

Patients also should consider who pays for the tests, Eccles said.

Body scans can only be paid for with cash, check or credit card.  When a physician requests a patient get a test, insurance providers likely will cover it.