Proton‐beam therapy: are physicists ignoring clinical realities?

The timely guest editorial this month is authored by the distinguished R. J. Schulz, Ph.D. from Yale University. As physicists, we must forever resist being blinded by the technology, and force ourselves to ask some critical questions. How much does this cost? How many quality-adjusted, life-years are we really buying for our patients? To whom should the bill be sent and why? What standards should be used to determine cost/benefit of new technologies? Medical physicists would do well to consider these questions and the impact of Dr Schulz’s arguments.