Hospitals in Quebec have run out of iodine 131, the radioactive isotope that is used in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer. The Montreal Gazette reported that since the beginning of June, more than half of the tests that use iodine 131 have been canceled. According to the Gazette: "That means that for nearly two weeks, at least half of the average number of tests have been postponed, roughly 12,000. The number of delayed tests corresponds roughly to the number of patients." As I reported back in May, the shortage of iodine 131 is due to the shutdown of a Canadian nuclear reactor, which was the main provider of radioiosotopes for medical imaging in the U.S. and Canada. I continue to caution that if you are a thyroid patient in the U.S. or Canada who is scheduled to undergo medical imaging tests for your thyroid or parathyroid, check with your doctor to be sure that procedures will take place as scheduled.
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Why are they using I131 for tests?? I believe that’s used for ablation, with I123 being preferred for tests due to reduced “stunning” risk and shorter half life, and possibly better images. Of course, when I went through my thyca treatment, my test and thus treatment and return to meds was delayed a week by a problem getting I123. Not fun.
Thanks for the great work you do, Mary. When I read that story last week on Yahoo, I was angry, and I fired off a comment that included something like, “Are you crazy? With all those symptoms, who would want to live 100 years?” Mary, doesn’t the Hippocratic Oath relate to patients’ quality of life (versus biologic record setting)? I’m guessing that the scientist is young…elders (like me) understand that life’s about qualilty not quantity.