RADIOPHOBIA IN THE HEALTHCARE SETTING: HOW TO MITIGATE

Objectives: CASE # 1: Nurse: “Natural radiation is better than man-made radiation!” Me: “Poison ivy, tsunami and tornadoes are natural, but are they any good?” CASE # 2: A nuclear medicine technologist’s advice to a Thallium 201 stress test patient: “You Need to Stay Away From Your Children for at Least 4 Days to Protect Them from Radiation Exposure!” Really??? These 2 cases are examples of how we in radiology in general and nuclear medicine in particular have ceded the narrative about radiation and radiation protection to others in the healthcare setting and beyond. African Proverb: Until the lion learn how to write, the narrative will always favor the hunter ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… . In 2015, the NRC reviewed 3 petitions to change LNT (Linear no-threshold). . “There has never been scientifically valid support for this hypothesis” … “the costs of complying with theses LNT based regulations and guidelines are enormous.” Dr. Carol S. Marcus, Prof Radiation Oncology UCLA (petition dated 02/09/2015). The Culprits (Radiation = bad) 1. Linear no-Threshold Model: truth or false (or obsolete?) 2. ALARA (an overzealous approach about radiation safety?) In the wake of 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, Europe-wide anxieties was fomented in pregnant mothers over the perception enforced by the LNT model their children would be born with an higher rate of mutations. As far afield as the country of Denmark, hundreds of excess induced abortions were performed on the healthy unborn, out of this no-threshold fear. Following the accident however, studies of data sets approaching a million births in the EUROCAT database, divided into “exposed” and control groups were assessed in 1999. As no Chernobyl impacts were detected, the researchers concluded “in retrospect the widespread fear in the population about the possible effects on the unborn was not justified”. African Proverb: IF THE FISH THINKS THE FISHERMAN CAME TO SAVE IT, THEN IT IS A FOOL The two cases above are examples of how we in radiology in general and nuclear medicine in particular are ceding the narrative to others. As stated in the above proverb, no one will come to save us but ourselves.