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I see your point.

I wonder though if there should be a cutoff somewhere, below which you stop caring? I used background cancer rates as an anchor to judge if the cutoff has been reached, without getting specific about benefits of treatment in each particular case. Would you suggest another cutoff level that is broadly applicable?

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I think the only comparison that makes sense is the benefit from the scan.

So if you are certain that the benefit of the scan is, no matter what the particular case, going to be worth much more than a 1/1000 chance of getting cancer, then that is a reason to ignore the risk.

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