After removal of a cancerous kidney, a patient is informed that the required ‘dye’ needed to confirm success and whole body assessment for next level of diagnosis and treatment is unavailable. Being an experienced nuclear scientist and physical chemist, the patient easily figures out that the ‘dye’ is SPECT radioactive isotope ^99mTc. Read about his frustration at Citizens for Medical Isotopes of being denied something he advocated for others at all levels of public and government opportunities.

It is truly ironic that the media driven paranoia regarding things radioactive or nuclear has caused medical professionals to hide terms such as medical isotopes and nuclear magnetic resonance (non-radioactive) with soft words such as ‘dye’ and ‘MRI’ respectively.  The unintended consequences are that the public is now illiterate to what many of us have been saying for years.  The life supporting medical isotope supplies are fragile and are now catastrophically missing due to foreign nuclear reactor shutdowns.  The US has frittered away its expertise and infrastructure to the now being learned expense of patient health and foreign supply risk.  It’s here, it’s now, and there is no fast solution to rebuild what modern medicine needs.