Posted on 06/02/2022 2:11:41 PM PDT by Twotone
Erin Dwyer has been doing a lot of waiting. After a sonogram in December, she found out that she has a growth on her right kidney and had to wait months to see a specialist. Now she’s waiting for a CT scan.
When she called the radiologist’s office in early May to schedule it, “they were like, ‘OK, well, the earliest I can see you is like the first week of June,” said Dwyer, a graphic designer in Northern California.
When she asked if they could possibly fit her in earlier, she said she was told: “‘There’s actually this shortage of contrast dye, and everyone’s having a really hard time getting anything. And so we’re having to schedule appointments way further out than we normally do.’”
Hospitals all around the country are delaying scans and procedures for patients because of a shortage of IV contrast dye, a liquid that’s injected into the veins to make organs and blood vessels easier to see on a CT scan or an X-ray.
Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and patient safety policy at the American Hospital Association, estimates about half of hospitals in the United States get most or all of their IV contrast from GE Healthcare. Much of the dye is manufactured at GE’s plant in Shanghai. Because of the current COVID-19 lockdowns in China, that plant has been closed or operating at reduced capacity for weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketplace.org ...
Being dependent on China isn’t just a problem - it’s stupid 🤪
BIDEN & CO could screw up a soup sandwich.
Doesn’t totally shut down CT’s...just CT’s when the Doc. wants contrast.
Totally agree...!!!!~
Yea affects me, get a MRI every 6 months with Contrast..forever.
I seem to recall someone arguing that we urgently needed to stop depending on China for our needs. Think his name was Donald .... something.
Of course it is.
China has us by the nuts. They really do.
Even if we wanted to return manufacturing to the United States, we'd have to repeal about 90% of all of our OSHA and EPA regulations before we could even build a factory that would be able to turn a profit.
A round of Bronx cheers is also in order for GE, a company which relentlessly shafts the American worker in favor of making junk overseas.
EPA and OSHA regulations make it damn near impossible to manufacture stuff over here.
Had my MRI with contrast last week for Neck/Brain..geez even the freakin CONTRAST comes from china..enough already with this BS stop depending on them for everything
Thanks to Obamacare, the US medicine is approaching the socialized medicine model.
Long waits, lack of help, inadequate tools.
Returning manufacturing to the US isn’t the only way to stop depending on and funding China and the CCP. It would be the best way, but not the only way. Diversifying sourcing to other countries that aren’t existential threats is another.
This is insane, folks.
Cant speak to your situation..and you clearly need to get them often..BUT
look up what happened to Gina Norris..wife of Chuck.
A lot of controversy about the contrast. One theory is that it is a cumulative effect..
I now take Spirulina powder before any imaging and afterwards.
I get scans at least every 3 months (also for life), with contrast, and I have not had any delays at all. Of course I am an automatic schedule, as I assume that you must be also.
I get it...........I work in a Hosp. sometimes........
Different contrast agent. I’m not aware of a gadolinium shortage, the MRI contrast agent
has anyone used one of those cheap flat rate services for MRI.
My insurance is refusing to pay for one. So I am thinking about doing one of these $300 deals without contrast.
I am leery about the quality for the radiology report.
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