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If a preventable error that might cause harm occurs during medical care, should there be transparency, or should the incident be swept under the rug? A rule proposed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) leans toward the latter. Full Text

Two NRC advisers had undisclosed relationships with the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, which opposed the reporting requirement and ran an active campaign opposing the petition. Full Text

The oversight division of a U.S. government agency tasked with ensuring the safe use of radioactive materials issued a recent report that the agency’s advisers had key undisclosed conflicts of interest, raising fresh concerns about controversial decisions around the reporting of radioactive injection accidents. Full Text

Lucerno praised Congress for enacting the first ‘minibus’ appropriations, which includes critical provisions pushing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to improve quality, safety, and transparency of nuclear medicine services. Press Release

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) has stated they oppose reporting significant extravasations to patients or authorities, arguing such incidents are rare and not severe. They warn against causing unnecessary fear or reluctance toward nuclear medicine due to “radiation paranoia.” However, this stance seems at odds with actual clinical experiences, including a severe case at a center focused on minimizing radiopharmaceutical extravasations. Transparency with patients, contrary to causing fear, has been found to foster trust. Ignoring the real frequency and severity of extravasations might undermine patient confidence in the nuclear medicine community. Full Text

Lucerno announced the worldwide first use of Lara^® Real-Time Visualization (RTV) in a clinical setting at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Carilion Clinic’s flagship facility. Press Release

Lucerno praised both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for passing legislation that includes important provisions regarding a patient safety issue that affects thousands of patients every year and pushing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to put patients first. Press Release

The nuclear medicine community has stated that they are using best practices to gain venous access and administer radiopharmaceuticals, and therefore do not contribute to extravasations. We tested this hypothesis qualitatively and quantitatively by evaluating four different perspectives of current radiopharmaceutical administration practices and compared them to the gold standard of pharmaceutical administration techniques. Full Text

Tim Bartholow, a family practitioner and former chief medical officer for a not-for-profit payer, reflects on clinicians’ responsibility concerning extravasations. He believes it’s essential to be aware of known potential harm and to disclose such risks to patients both before an incident and if harm has indeed occurred. Full Text

On May 25, 2023, the Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) published an article ahead-of-print entitled “Multicenter Evaluation of Frequency and Impact of Activity Infiltration in PET Imaging, Including Microscale Modeling of Skin-Absorbed Dose” … There are, however, several problems with the work that raise questions about its conclusions. The methods are not well described, the results contain errors, and the peer-review process for this manuscript appears to have lacked rigor. Full Text

This mini-review will examine the literature of the last twenty years to summarize the history of radiopharmaceutical extravasations, determine key trends in imaging and therapies, and highlight critical gaps in research that currently exist. Full Text

To provide high quality service, nuclear medicine departments as well as the interpreting radiologist physicians should be cognizant of the possible need to repeat studies which have been affected by an extravasation. Full Text