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RE: detecting medical isotopes at airport security
In regard to cards to identify nuclear medicine patients, it does not work
for cochlear implant patients. Airport personnel will not even look at the
card when you offer it.
Donald L. Thompson, PhD
Center for Devices and
Radiological Health, FDA
-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Marcus [mailto:csmarcus@ucla.edu]
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 7:12 PM
To: knwachter@juno.com; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Re: detecting medical isotopes at airport security
At 12:46 PM 11/21/2003, knwachter@juno.com wrote:
>Does anyone know of incidents where residual medical isotopes in a
>traveller's body set off radiation monitors at an airport? A cardiologist
>mentioned to me that he had heard of Tl-201 a day or two after a cardiac
>scan tripping alarms at some airports. Just curious.
>
>knwachter@juno.com
Dear Radsafers:
I know that it has happened in the New York City subways recently and in
government buildings in Washington, D.C. for years. I know it has
happened at the Athens Airport, some years ago. I don't know if it has
happened at US airports, but it should! I understand that the scientists
manning the DOE TRIAGE Program have gotten very good at spotting the
spectra of radionuclides used in nuclear medicine. I really think that
patients who receive radiopharmaceuticals should be given a card the size
of a credit card to carry in their wallet for a few weeks, and that the
card contains all the relevant information and a number to call to
check. However, I guess that would now be a HIPAA violation!
Ciao, Carol
Carol S. Marcus, Ph.D., M.D.
<csmarcus@ucla.edu>
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