Re: Plutonium-238-containing cardiac pacemakers

[Sherry Jones <swjones@lanl.gov>]

They have not been returned to the DOE, many are waiting disposal, and many
are still implanted.

Sherry Jones



>Dear Jaro,
>Nuclear powered pacemakers hit the market in the early 1970s.  One of the
>manufacturers was Medtronic, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Perhaps they
>can tell you how many they sold.  The Air Force School of Aerospce Medicine
>performed EMI tests on Medtronic Model 9000 pcemakers, when this was
>considered a problem for Air Force installations.  The pacemakers contained
>2.5 Ci of Pu-238.  tests were conducted in water phantoms.  We were
>instructed to return them to the manufacturer when they were no longer of
>use.  The literature at the time stated tht patients who received the
>pacemakers were required to carry a special ID card and that upon their
>demise, the pacemaker was to be retrieved and returned to the physician, who
>in turn was to return it to the manufacturer.   We heard of one story where a
>patient had to be reinterred.   I presume that Medtronic returned the Pu fuel
>capsules to the DOE.   I, too, would be interested in knowing is any of these
>devices re still around.  Please let us know.
>
>Ken Hardy
>hardykphys@aol.com
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********************************
Sherry W. Jones, NMSM
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P. O. Box 1663, MS E524
Los Alamos, NM 87545
Phone (505) 665-2712
Fax: (505) 665-8997
E-Mail: swjones@lanl.gov
********************************

IF PEOPLE FROM OUTER SPACE ARE REALLY WATCHING US, SHOULDN'T WE BE ABLE TO
HEAR THEM GIGGLING?


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