"Irrational" factors may drive end of life access to radiation

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Access to radiation treatments to ease cancer symptoms in the last days of life may be driven by costs and other non-medical considerations, a new U.S. study concludes. Researchers looking at Medicare claims over nearly a decade found that only a small proportion of cancer patients received radiation in their final 30 days of life, but of those who did get the treatment – typically used to ease pain and other symptoms in the terminal stages of the disease – one in five got more than the recommended number of doses. …