Outpatient Thyroid Ablations -Reply

[Chris Alston <alstonc@odrge.odr.georgetown.edu>]

>Content-Disposition: inline
>Date:         Wed, 27 May 1998 11:01:09 -0400
>Reply-To: Medical Physics Mailing List <MEDPHYS@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU>
>Sender: Medical Physics Listserver <medphys@lists.wayne.edu>
>From: Steve Cartwright <Steve_Cartwright@KETTHEALTH.COM>
>Subject:      Outpatient Thyroid Ablations -Reply
>To: MEDPHYS@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU
>
>Actually, you can give up to 220 mCi of I-131 and send a patient out
>into the world.  A footnote in Reg. Guide 8.39 says that you do not
>have an obligation to ensure that the patient follows the
>instructions.  If you provide the instructions you've done your job.
>
>
>We have gone into the homes of some of our patients and made
>measurements and - surprise! - their toilets and bed linens are
>contaminated.  We've only found a little contamination in other
>spots, such as telephones or kitchens.  One could argue that in a
>hotel there is less opportunity for contamination since the linens
>are changed regularly and the toilets are cleaned regularly.  I can
>only guess what sort of exposure the hotel staff would get, but by
>the rules of the game we don't have to measure it.
>
>So, from a public safety point of view you're probably right in
>trying to restrict the contamination to a single private residence.
>But there is no mandate to do so from a regulatory point of view.
>
>                    *****
>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Medphys at:
>http://www.mindspring.com/~sherouse/MPFAQ/
>