In a move that can only be described as sheer lunacy, the FDA has stated that it’s probably fine and dandy to allow a heavy metal to accumulate in your brain, bones, and skin.
What’s next? Cigarettes being handed out for kindergarteners along with the milk and cookies?
As part of its “ongoing” review of the risks involved in being injected with a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) to enhance an MRI scan, the FDA issued “patient medication guides” in late May.
They’re supposed to tell someone who’s about to receive one of these tests all of the details and risks involved in being injected with this heavy metal, and they do… sort of.
But as expected with most anything the FDA does, these guides will leave patients more confused than ever over what they’re about to submit to.
That’s why it’s urgent that you know the whole story before you allow this poison to be put inside your body.
If there were ever a situation where the FDA could have really done something to benefit patients, this was it. But true to form, it acted on the side of industry.
Over the past year, I’ve told you about many of the dangers involved in being injected with a GBCA before undergoing an MRI. European regulators have already suspended three of the most frequently used ones: Omniscan, OptMark, and Magnevist. And most recently, South Korea put a ban on 13 GBCAs — for at least until the end of the year — due to “safety concerns.”
Of course, U.S. doctors and radiologists will sing a different tune, telling you how harmless these dyes are… how your kidneys will excrete them… and how necessary they are to allow for accurate readings of the scans.
But none of that is true!
As HSI panel member Dr. Allan Spreen says, gadolinium dyes are “highly toxic” and used purely for the “convenience” of radiologists.
But here’s the thing — the entire theory that this highly toxic substance is “safe” to inject into us was based on the concept that most, if not all of it, is simply eliminated in our urine. Now we’re being told that gadolinium is known to be “retained in organs.”
If that sounds worrisome to you, well… it should be!
Which brings me back to the FDA and its new patient-medication guides.
If you were to receive one for a GBCA called Omniscan, you would learn the scary facts about how gadolinium will accumulate in your brain, bones, skin, and “other parts of your body for a very long time.” You’d also discover that pain, tiredness, and skin, muscle, or “bone ailments” have been reported by patients, along with how pregnant women and kids are at a bigger risk of retaining this toxin in their bodies.
But that’s only the half of it!
The label for Omniscan also comes along with this same guide, which is not something the average patient would ever get to see. It warns that while the most frequent adverse reactions are nausea, headache, and dizziness, it can also result in an abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure, and the risk of a heart attack.
The FDA’s summary of all of this frightening information is that while “it is not known how gadolinium may affect you,” studies have found it not to be a problem if you have “normal kidneys.”
But what does that mean exactly, and how do we know if our kidney function is considered normal? The guide advises to get your kidneys checked before submitting to an MRI that uses a GBCA – but come on, how many patients are given that option?
And wait until you hear this! The FDA’s “rules” about these guides say that any healthcare professional can withhold one if they think that it’s not “in a patient’s best interest to receive” it.
What! Why even bother to print these up in the first place?
Also mentioned in this guide that you may receive — or just as likely may not — is a condition called nephrongenic system fibrosis (NSF), a horrific skin disease that can make your skin and joints feel and look like wood that can be triggered by a GBCA if you have “kidney problems.”
The bottom line here is that once you find out that a GBCA is going to harm you, it will be too late to do anything about it.
That’s why you need to follow the two steps below faithfully!
1. First and foremost, if you or a family member are scheduled to have an MRI, ask if it will be “enhanced” with a contrasting agent. Dr. Spreen advises that all such dyes be “adamantly refused.”
2. And before you set foot in an imaging facility to have an MRI done, ask your doctor why he ordered it. In many cases, research has found that MRIs (as well as other diagnostic tests) are highly overused and unnecessary.
I know, it can be extremely difficult to question your doctor in a situation such as this. But going along with this charade and pretending there’s nothing wrong with having a heavy metal buildup in your body is like playing Russian roulette.
If you lose, there’s no going back.
“FDA: New med guide for patients receiving gadolinium-based contrast agents” Diana Ernst, May 17, 2018, MPR, empr.com
