Re: Teaching the Doc's

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 14:36 22.07.2000 -0500, you wrote:
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>    Regarding suggestions that the health physics community play a role =
>in educating physicians on radiation effects, I wonder just what we =
>should teach them? It is my personal opinion, for example, that the =
>consequences of a few diagnostic x-rays, or any other radiation exposure =
> within the range of variation of natural background (<100 mrem/yr) =
>should be considered trivial and  never be the reason to justify =
>termination of pregnancy. I think the widespread practice of abortions =
>in Europe following Chernobyl was an abomination


Could you please give me information about the abortions in Europe
following Chernobyl? What is the source of this statement? I do not know,
that there were any excess abortions, but I might be wrong. In case I am
not wrong, this would be an excellent example, how "hearsay" even
influences radiation protection professionals with wrong information. How
should we then blame the public, when they believe every nonsense on
irradiation of food, "nuclear legacy", deadly hazards of low-level
radioactive waste, deadly impact of nuclear power plants under routine
operation etc.?

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at


Office:
Ministerialrat Dr. Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management
Radiation Protection Department (BMLFUW I/8 U)
Radetzkystr. 2
A-1031 Vienna
AUSTRIA

phone: -43-1-71172-4458
fax: -43-1-7122331

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