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RE: medical misadventures



Hello everyone:



I say bull dinkies!  I have personally experienced a few nuclear diagnostic tests that were performed for my own health - and have found that the patient, given the amount of information available to them, was woefully inadequate! They were not made aware of the possible danger to health and family.  For example: after being injected with a sizeable dose of radioactive iodine ( a few milicuries) I was not told of any possible ramifications for sleeping next to my wife, kids, or anything else!  This example is a serious problem - probably more so than mis-handling of dosage!  I thank God that I was on top of what was happening to me and how I should shield my family!  I would count my urine, spit and etc. to know when I thought I was safe based on my knowledge from my days at Oak Ridge.  I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology.  I say this not to impress, but to testify the amount of knowledge not disseminated to the patients. 



I do not see this concern addressed - I have never seen so much radioactive substance injected unto an individual, my personal experience, with just latex gloves on, that's it, in an open room, and no safety for those that entered in and out.



Please, if you want more exact information on my experiences and the lack of safety address me privately.  If more general questions arise, I will respond in general to all.  Thanks - sorry for my ranting if perceived in that light.  Tom

---

Tom Savin



On Thu, 06 Sep 2001 13:28:32  

 Perrero, Daren wrote:

>Bill

>

>The other side of this argument is that a fair number of human errors that

>end up as medical misadminstrations are violations of regulations that have

>no place being burdened upon licensees in the first place. No "major event"

>has even occurred. The "errors", in fact, have no impact on the health of

>the patient involved. The range of effectiveness for most therapeutic doses

>are enormous and whether you are off by 20% or more is irrelevant to the

>outcome, or better yet the administration of radiation is a means of

>providing "additional assurance" that the main treatment method (i.e.,

>surgery) is successful, yet by regulation the "error" is a reportable

>misadministration. No harm, no foul, I say! 

>

>The rad protection program at the facility is, more often than not, just

>fine and the misadministration is not a valid indication of the quality of

>work being done by the Med Physicist/RSO at these facilities.  Med HP's

>spend their entire day trying to improve "human performance", but like

>everyone else they have to allocate limited resources.  I would rather see

>them spending their time with the CT Scanner, Mammography Unit and LINAC and

>other X-ray sources since there are far more medical procedures conducted

>with these forms of radiation than in the busiest Nuc Med Dept.

>

>If its really about trust, and not dose, then I suggest the medical folk

>stop being required to wave red flags when the patient impact is negligible

>in the first place.

>

> 

>

>more than ever, the thoughts expressed are mine, mine, all mine! I'm with

>the government, I'm here to help........

>

>Daren Perrero, Health Physicist

>

>perrero@idns.state.il.us

>

> 

>

> 

>

> 

>

>-----Original Message-----

>From: William V Lipton [mailto:liptonw@DTEENERGY.COM]

>Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 6:18 AM

>To: julian ginniver; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

>Subject: Re: medical misadventures

>

>

>Virtually every major event at a power reactor is reviewed by other power

>reactors to determine whether they are vulnerable to a simlar event, and

>corrective actions are taken, as appropriate.  I don't see that happening in

>the medical hp community.  Informal information exchange is important, but

>you should also have procedures that assure documented reviews of key

>events. 

>

>I didn't intend to imply laxity, except for those who claim, "It's not my

>job.", or "I don't check the calculations, I just sign off on them!" 

>

>

>In the power reactor industry, this would be considered an "opportunity for

>improvement."  And, yes, "I'm here to help you." 

>

>

>The opinions expressed are strictly mine. 

>It's not about dose, it's about trust. 

>

>

>Bill Lipton 

>liptonw@dteenergy.com 

>

>

>julian ginniver wrote: 

>

>

>Bill,    I find that I can't agree with your suggestion that because event

>occur in the medical applications of radiation and radioactive material that

>these events are indicative of laxity on the part of our colleagues in this

>area.  Within the nuclear industry there are ongoing efforts to highlight

>the lessons we can learn from the events that continue to occur.  Does this

>indicate a lack of diligence on our part?  We can only take heart from our

>obvious desire to improve and use formal and informal routes (such as

>Radsafe) to do what we can to highlight these events.  What I would like to

>know is if, as you suggested, these events are not widely promulgated

>through the medical profession.  As you so rightly pointed out we should

>endevour to make everyone aware of the lessons that can be learnt. Best

>Regards            Julian Ginniver

>

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>





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