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Current Supply Crisis - CMI Staff Commentary - December 14, 2007On October 8, 2001, then Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson wrote to then Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham about the dire circumstances surrounding the lack of research isotopes and the almost total dependence on foreign sources for commercial medical isotopes.Washington Governor Gary Locke’s January 16, 2004, letter urges then Secretary Abraham to convene a cabinet-level meeting. TCH 17-Jan-2004 , Locke Letter In November 2005, the Department of Energy’s own Investigator General wrote a scathing Special Report stating, "...The audit disclosed that the Department had not always provided researchers with the isotopes needed to conduct planned research. Much of this research was designed to identify breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers and other life-threatening diseases. Since 1998, independent reviews, many of which were sponsored by the Department, have noted that the Isotope Program did not fully support production of research isotopes and that it had not adequately served the needs of the research community. Our review disclosed similar and continuing problems. …" (IG Report) The National Academy of Sciences recently published a report, Advancing Nuclear Medicine Through Innovation (free .pdf summary), 2007. This telling study reports on the amazing advancements of nuclear medicine in imaging and in finding cancer cures. This report as well laments the lack of research, lack of specialized facilities, lack of training for technicians and scientists, and lack of domestic supplies. Recommendation #1: Enhance the federal commitment to nuclear medicine research. A) reinstate support for nuclear medicine research program; B) coordinate between DOE and National Institutes of Health, so DOE would reclaim a leadership role in this field; and, C) develop a strategic plan with input from a broad range of authorities. NOW, there is a medical isotope crisis in the land. The Canadian supplier's 50 year-old reactor is down. They supply 40,000 procedures per day in the USA alone. As seen above, we have not been the only ones to decry this problem. A great success story started at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and was proven at the University of Washington : Targeted radioimmunotherapy, now FDA approved: BEXXAR and ZEVELIN = cures for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the cancer that took Jacqueline Onassis. New York Times - Hodgkins Lymphoma The Canadian reactor situation has caused the current supply crisis: New York Times - Isotope Shortage |
| Send Us a Note Updated: December 11, 2007 |  |