American College of Medical Toxicology and The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology
View all recommendations from this societyReleased September 26, 2013
Don’t order heavy metal screening tests to assess non-specific symptoms in the absence of excessive exposure to metals.
Individuals are constantly exposed to metals in the environment and often have detectable levels without being poisoned. Indiscriminant testing leads to needless concern when a test returns outside of a “normal” range. Diagnosis of any metal poisoning requires an appropriate exposure history and clinical findings consistent with poisoning by that metal. A patient should only undergo specific metal testing if there is concern for a specific poisoning based on history and physical examination findings.
These items are provided solely for informational purposes and are not intended as a substitute for consultation with a medical professional. Patients with any specific questions about the items on this list or their individual situation should consult their physician.
How The List Was Created
The American College of Medical Toxicology’s (ACMT’s) Board of Directors established a Choosing Wisely® work group in 2013 to develop a list of items for the Choosing Wisely® campaign. Members of the work group were chosen to represent various practice settings within the field of medical toxicology, including ambulatory, acute and population-based practice. Work group members included the President of the College, the Chair of the Practice Committee, the Chair of the Positions and Guidelines committee and other academic leaders within the medical toxicology community. All work group members also represented the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT). The first list was released by the work group in 2013 and in 2014, the work group reconvened to develop a second list of items for the campaign. A second preliminary list was disseminated to all members of ACMT and AACT for review, commentary and potential additions. Additional feedback was solicited from leaders within the field of medical toxicology. The work group reviewed all responses, and narrowed the list to the final five items based on a review of scientific evidence, relevance to the specialty and greatest opportunity to improve care, reduce cost and reduce harm to patients.The final list was approved by the ACMT Board of Directors and the AACT Board of Trustees.
The ACMT and AACT disclosure and conflict of interest policies and be found at www.acmt.net and www.clintox.org respectively.
Sources
McKay C, Holland M, Nelson L. A call to arms for medical toxicologists: the dose, not the detection, makes the poison. Internet J Med Toxicol. 2003;6(1):1.
Schober SE, Sinks TH, Jones RL, Bolger PM, McDowell M, Osterloh J, Garrett ES, Canady RA, Dillon CF, Sun Y, Joseph CB, Mahaffey KR. Blood mercury levels in US children and women of childbearing age, 1999-2000. JAMA. 2003;289(13):1667–74.
