[Anonymous October 9, 1998 at 1:31 am Post count: 93172]

#1049750

A message from Nancy Patterson, National Graves’ Disease Foundation director
and fellow Graves’ warrior:

There is about to be a new rule proposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) that would require that RAI only be given by radiologists or hospitals,
and would no longer be given by licensed endocrinologists. Those
endocrinologists who are already licensed to administer RAI would be
“grandfathered in,” but no new licenses would be issued. Obviously, doctors
are writing in asking them to reconsider, and letters from patients would also
be very important. WE are the ones that use this service.

As an example (a very sad one) of how this can be to our detriment, consider
the case of a man, diagnosed with Graves’, for whom it took three more weeks
to get additional scans and ultrasounds, and then three more weeks before the
RAI could be administered because the radiologist was going away on vacation.
He died in thyroid storm before his thyroid could be treated. Had his
physician been licensed to administer RAI, he could have been treated, and in
all likelihood, be alive and recovering.

PLEASE take the time to cut and paste and mail letters to the four NRC
commissioners listed below. The DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15–less than one weeks
away. Feel free to forward this message to other Graves’ warriors. Also,
please let me know that you wrote, so I can give Dr. Jack Baskins (from AACE)
an idea of the number of supportive letters that were sent from patients.
THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO–RATHER THAN COMPLAIN THAT WE HAVE NO
INFLUENCE!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ letter samples ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Date:
From: (Name, Address, e-mail)
Re: Revisions to 10 CFR Part 35 (Medical Uses of Byproduct Materials)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#1
I am a Graves’ disease patient, and as such, have had (or will have)
Radioactive Iodine in the treatment of my illness. At the present time, I-131
can be given either in a hospital, or in the physician’s office. There are
several advantages to having the endocrinologist licensed to give I-131 for
Graves’ Disease in the office. These include: There is more personal,
accurate, and focused attention between the patient and physician. There is
less room for error in the physician’s office. It is cost effective to have
office-administered I-131. The cost of hospital administration increases the
cost of the procedure by two to three times. It reduces the fear and anxiety
of this treatment to have it administered in the office.
Based on NRC data, there is no documented misadministration of I-131 by
endocrinologists.

(Enter your personal experience here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#2
Briefly, there are four points that are especially important to consider if
endocrinologists are no longer licensed to administer I-131 in their offices:
1. There is an increased potential for safety hazards and/or errors in the
hospital.
2. There is a large increase in the cost to the patient.
3. There may be increased emotional trauma during treatment at the hospital.
4. There is an increased layer of complexity and margin of error made by the
necessity of multiple referrals.

(Your personal experience here)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail to:
1. The Honorable Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Chairwoman
Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Room 17D1
One White Flint North Building
11555 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852-2738

The other Commissioners are at the same above address:
2. The Honorable Edward McGaffigan, Jr. , Room 18G1
3. The Honorable Greta Dicus, Room 18H1
4. The Honorable Nills J. Diaz, Room 18F1

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