PI with I-131 Treatment and Immediate Return to Work

[Vincent.King@DOEGJPO.COM (Vincent King)]

     I would suggest that the management of your facility place some sort 
     of work or access restrictions on the PI in question purely from an 
     administrative and cost savings perspective.
     
     The consequences of radiation exposure to others encountering this 
     individual are insignificant (including the pregnant PI); furthermore, 
     any contamination caused by the individual should not be considered a 
     violation of your facility's license requirements.  After all, 
     individuals receive medical administrations of radioisotopes all the 
     time, and they aren't required to report them to their employers - in 
     fact, many would consider this an intrusion on their privacy.  Once 
     individuals are released from the hospital, they are outside 
     regulatory jurisdiction.  People receiving such treatments are, in 
     fact, never under regulatory jurisdiction as far as your facility is 
     concerned.
     
     However, the cost of lost experiments, unwanted contamination at a 
     radiological facility, and other significant inconveniences may be so 
     great that it would be foolish not to place some restrictions on the 
     individual's activities.  You just have to use something besides 
     regulatory compliance with your license as the justification for such 
     restrictions.
     
     Good luck, and I sympathize with you - it happens here, too.
     
     Vincent King
     vincent.king@doegjpo.com