nuclear-news

Patients treated with radioactivity can endanger others

Are Radioactive Cancer Patients Endangering Us All? | The Stir, 2 Nov, 10, “………there’s growing concern about thyroid cancer patients, who are treated with radioactive iodine, which may present problematic levels of radiation to those around them for up to a week.In fact, after thyroid treatment, patients are advised not to hug children or pregnant women (who are considered particularly vulnerable), or to sleep next to another person, for several days—depending on their dose of medication, according to The New York Times. And they’re not even supposed to eat chicken wings or whole apples, because the bones or core will be contaminated with radioactive saliva. Eeek! Nonetheless, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency got rid of a requirement in 1997 that stated thyroid cancer patients must be quarantined after their treatment. Their rationale was that letting people recuperate at home would “cut costs, benefit the patients, and allow doctors with no quarantine facilities to perform the treatment.”

Sounds good in theory, maybe, but as a result, many patients have simply gone back to life as normal, spending their time around fellow citizens and family members. One recently boarded a bus to Atlantic City from NYC after treatment and set off a radiation alarm in the Lincoln Tunnel!……

Are Radioactive Cancer Patients Endangering Us All? | The Stir

November 2, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive