On March 31, 2010 the American Thyroid Association (ATA), American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), Society for Nuclear Medicine (SCM) and The Endocrine Society released a joint statement reinforcing the societies’ position on the safety of current protocols concerning the discharge of patients who received radioactive iodine therapy. The joint statement was prompted by an article in USA today dated March 18, 2010 entitled "Report: Thyroid Cancer Radiation a Public Threat". The article mentioned a recent congressional report raising concerns about the public health safety of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's current regulations regarding discharge of these patients after treatment. These regulations were relaxed in 1997. The Drug and Therapeutics Committee of the LWPES has been charged with examining whether the data cited by the societies adequately addresses the safety of caregiver exposure to treated children and exposure of children of treated patients. The D&T will be working on this in the coming months. The joint statement is found at http://www.aace.com/alert/alert03312010.phpThe USA today article can be viewed at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-18-radcancer18_ST_N.htm |