Next time your doctor orders a scan, know the benefits but don’t forget to ask about the harm

‘There was a time in my training when I needed permission to even request an MRI whose approval was contingent on the adequacy of the request.’ Photograph: JohnnyGreig/Getty Images

“And one more thing, what do you want to do about this?”

The trainee looks so apologetic that I suspect a medical error relating to our octogenarian patient admitted overnight with confusion. Scrolling through the images on the computer, I see the problem, even without the arrows pointing to an “ill-defined abnormality” around the colon.