[ RadSafe ] Can any one send me that US policy on using x-ray

[Bradt, Clayton (HEALTH)]

What nonsense! There are all sorts of ways to estimate a child’s age that don’t involve invasive techniques.  How accurate does the estimate have to be just to get a birth certificate?  All the authorities have to do is make  guess and write it down: year – month - day.  Then voila, the kid has a birthday!


Clayton

From: parthasarathy k s [mailto:ksparth at yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 12:42 PM
To: Bradt, Clayton (HEALTH) <clayton.bradt at health.ny.gov>
Cc: RADSAFE <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: Can any one send me that US policy on using x-ray

Dear Dr. Clayton,

You are correct.Currently, a non govermental organization (NGO) in collaboration with a few dental colleges is involved in issuing birth certificates to children (who do not have any birth certificates) on the basis of dental images. Certainly this cannot be compared as a medical study (with diagnostic or therapeutic benefits). In this particular instance there are other ethical issues as well. I am including a news item on the project which will give you an idea about the project

100 orphans get birth certificates after age estimation studies
Friday, 14 August 2015 - 7:55am IST Updated: Friday, 14 August 2015 - 8:42am IST | Agency: dna |
About a hundred children from orphanages are all set to get their birth certificates, an important document for government work. In a collaborative charity project by Terna Dental College, Mumbai, and Date of Birth Foundation, Hong Kong, the college and the foundation have signed an MoU to conduct dental age research.
"In the first phase of the project, 100 children without birth documents were identified from Navi Mumbai<http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/navi-mumbai> region and brought to the dental college, where dental x-rays were obtained and age estimation was done. Hence, age certificates will be issued to these children; now, these kids have a date to remember and celebrate in their lives," said Dr Shishir Singh, dean of the college.
Birth registration is a fundamental human right. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) article 7 states that a child has to be registered immediately after birth; this applies to all countries that are signatories with the United Nations.
"Illegitimate children, children in orphanages, children born at home do not have birth certificates. Through this procedure, we will be able to give them age certificates," said Singh.
In India, registration of birth is mandatory, according to Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. As of 2012, Unicef reports that only 41% of births are registered in India. It further projects that out of the 26 million births every year, around 10 million go unregistered.
A birth certificate<http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/birth-certificate> serves as an identity document that confirms the existence of a child. The absence of birth documents questions the existence of millions of children around the world and fails to guard them against age-related crimes and abuses. A birth certificate serves as a baseline document for getting admission to school, obtaining driving licence, passport, claim of property, and seek insurance and social security benefits. The lack of birth identity documents can lead to falsified testimonials of age when children want to enrol in school, work, appear in national competitive exams and participate in age categorised sports and games tournaments.
 AS per US guidelines (Federal or State) is this practice "justified" ICRP jargon!


Regards
Parthasarathy



















On Tuesday, 18 August 2015, 23:10, "Bradt, Clayton (HEALTH)" <clayton.bradt at health.ny.gov<mailto:clayton.bradt at health.ny.gov>> wrote:

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The regulation of the use of X-ray equipment in the US is done by the individual states.  Every state has its own regulations although they are all  very similar to each other since they tend to follow the Suggested State Regulations of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD).  In New York no radiation can be applied to humans without a physician’s (or dentist’s) order and must be performed by a qualified technologist. (This is the gist of it, anyway.)  So absent a valid medical reason, no one is supposed to be x-rayed. Determining age does not necessarily sound like a valid medical reason, but I suppose a physician might consider it to be under certain circumstances.  I believe that this is essentially the same in every state in the US.

Clayton Bradt
Principal Radiophysicist
NYS Dept. of Health
518-474-1993