Dear Radsafe,
I have been off radsafe for a while, so if this has been addressed
recently, bear with me. But it is Q and A time.
As you know, recent changes have been written to Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
regulations. These changes affect the manner in which patients
administered therapeutic doses of radionuclides are managed. In many
cases, patients that were formerly treated as in-patients may now be
treated as out-patients, and be discharged immediately after the
administration of the therapeutic radionuclide dose.
The University of Virginia is taking an informal, but important, poll to
determine how other health care facilities are planning to respond to
the change in regulations. Please answer the following questions:
1. Does your health care facility administer therapeutic doses of
radioactive material to patients? If yes, please continue to answer all
following questions. If not...there's no need to continue.
2. Are you familiar with the changes in the regulations contained in 10
CFR 35.75?
3. In which department does your Radiation Safety Officer work?
4. To whom does your Radiation Safety Officer report?
5. What is your current criteria for the release of radioactive
patients?
6. Which Regulatory Guide and NUREG are you using for guidance?
7. Do you plan to release patients under the new guidance?
8. Have you administered therapeutic doses of radionuclides to patients
and released them the same day?
9. What is the highest I-131 activity that has been administered to a
patient that has been released on the same day?
10. What type of patient follow-up do you perform?
11. What type of information do you supply to the patient prior to
release?
12. Do you use the default guidance contained in the Reg. Guide or have
you calculated your own release activities based on patient specific
morphology and metabolism?
Thanks for your time in answering these questions.
Please email me directly at <piccolo@virginia.edu>