News

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 announced that Fiscal Year 2023 bills passed this week by the U.S. House of Representatives include critical language to improve the safety of nuclear medicine treatments and increase transparency within the American healthcare system. Press Release

“My analysis shows that the NRC findings predominantly parrot positions of the advisory committee and affiliated societies, such as requiring patients to determine whether a procedure was done correctly; requiring reporting only if a patient experiences permanent functional damage; or taking no action whatsoever.” Full Text

Dr. David Townsend, the co-inventor of PET/CT scanner, Dr. Jackson Kiser, Medical Director of Molecular Imaging at Carilion Clinic, Dr. Darrell Fisher, nuclear medicine physicist, past president Health Physics Society, and previous member of the NRC’s Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI), Dr. Marjan Boerma, the director of the UAMS Division of Radiation Health, and others shared research on extravasations. You can watch the webinar and earn 1 CE credit here.

Lucerno highlighted a peer-reviewed publication in the radiation safety journal Health Physics demonstrating that extravasations of routinely-used radiopharmaceuticals can cause unintended irradiation to patient tissue that “exceed well-established radiation protection and regulatory limits.” Press Release

Lucerno announced that the Fiscal Year 2021 Omnibus Appropriations Act includes critical language to protect the safety of nuclear medicine patients and enhance transparency within the American healthcare system. Press Release

Lucerno submitted a formal petition for rulemaking to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which calls on the agency to update a 1980 policy that allows nuclear medicine injection errors to remain hidden from patients, treating physicians, and NRC itself. Press Release

“…NRC is now re-evaluating the loophole that allows significant infiltrations to go unreported. Requiring reporting would be a small step for hospitals to implement but a big step toward improving patient care.” Full Text

Lucerno Dynamics has completed CE mark self-certification.

Lucerno Dynamics earns ISO 13485:2016 certification