Lung cancer death reduction: CT scan or Vitamin D – which is 40X less expensive

It is proposed that Medicare pay $9 billion a year for CT scans of people who have smoked more than 30 packs per year.

The additional CT scans are expected to reduce the death due to lung cancer by 20%

The cost of the annual CT scans about $800 per person (The costs of resulting surgery were not mentioned)

The cost of vitamin D to get a similar reduction appears to be $5/year

The risks of getting the CT scan are similar to Breast Cancer Screening

• Overdiagnosis

• A high frequency of false-positive results

• Increased radiation exposure

  The risks of extra vitamin D are

• Great reduction in many other health problems

  For detail: see Overview Lung cancer and vitamin D