ABSTRACT
The history of radiation therapy exemplifies how economic interests have shaped the development of medical specialties, particularly technology-oriented ones, and how they have promulgated policies that reinforce facility growth. Radiation treatments can damage their hearts, lungs, kidneys, and brains; stunt their growth; reduce future fertility; and lead to secondary cancers. Motivated by a mix of sometimes conflicting goals, including those of distributive justice, professional control, economic gain, market dominance, cost containment, and political mileage, health care reform in the United States has stitched together a patchwork system. Payment is the most common regulatory intrusion in the health care market and is the subject of a large number of health care reform studies. Public payment programs in the United States partially cover medical fees for large numbers of (but far from all) people who would otherwise be priced out of the market.
