Radiology and risk: an economist's perspective

This paper, which is an amended version of a talk given to The British Institute of Radiology at a meeting on "Dosimetry and Risks to Patients in Radiopharmaceutical Investigations", picks up the ICRP's concept of detriment and places it firmly in the framework whence it came, viz. cost-benefit analysis. It explains cost-benefit analysis (distinguishing it from cost-effectiveness analysis) and suggests various ways of trying to place a value on human life in order to use cost-benefit analysis as a practical tool of decision-making in policy areas where at least part of the benefit is to be measured in terms of lives saved. The paper suggests that it is important to decide not only who is to value life but also whose perception of risk of death are to be deemed relevant. A practical example in the use of life values is presented for the case of mammography in breast cancer screening.