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2007-01-30 Home Front: WoT

"Hot" patients setting off U.S. radiation alarms

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Posted by Free Radical 2007-01-30 09:31|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Sometimes it's more than that. When a person gets ¹³¹I treatment for thyroid cancer he is warned not to have close contact with anyone for a while. Some 1970s pacemakers actually had nuclear batteries. They were powered by ²³⁸Pu. Advances in battery technology made those obsolete.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-01-30 15:48|| 2007-01-30 15:48|| Front Page Top

#2 Iodine-131 for Thyroid. Scarey. To think that when Renquist was in his last days, the guards had to tell each other, "It's OK if he trips the alarm. He runs the place..." One would think that there would be some sort of ID for that sort of thing...

Posted by BigEd 2007-01-30 16:24|| 2007-01-30 16:24|| Front Page Top

#3 I've a friend who had hip replacement surgery. Whenever he travels he carries a letter from the surgeon explaining why he sets off the security gate thingies. And of course he gets to the airport early enough that the surgeon's office can be called to confirm, if necessary. No big deal.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-01-30 20:59|| 2007-01-30 20:59|| Front Page Top

#4 a few may want to carry notes from their doctors explaining why they're radioactive enough to set off "dirty bomb" alarms.

It might be an idea to get a note from the chef after dining in the Millennium Hotel.

Posted by Toadfish Sushimi 2007-01-30 21:07|| 2007-01-30 21:07|| Front Page Top

#5 ¹³¹I is easier to deal with than radical surgery, BigEd. And if the cancer has metasthesized, all the better. The surgeon might not find it all, but it will pick up the radioiodine anyway.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-01-30 23:14|| 2007-01-30 23:14|| Front Page Top

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