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MRI Health Risk Legal News Articles & Interviews

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Health Canada in Gadolinium Denial

Health Canada in Gadolinium Denial September 13, 2019. By Jane Mundy.
Fort Saskatchewan, AB: How can a heavy metal accumulate in the brain but not be considered harmful? After undergoing seven MRI scans, all with injections of a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA), Wanda Milley experienced the same gadolinium contrast dye side effects that many other patients have suffered, and have subsequently filed gadolinium lawsuits.

Read [ Health Canada in Gadolinium Denial ]

Gadolinium Dyeing Out?

Gadolinium Dyeing Out? August 13, 2019. By Jane Mundy.
Buffalo, NY: Many reports of adverse side events associated with gadolinium contrast dye, along with recent data showing that gadolinium deposits in the brain and other organs have spurred researchers to find imaging approaches that don’t need gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs).
Read [ Gadolinium Dyeing Out? ]

MRI with Gadolinium – Better to be Safe than Sorry?

MRI with Gadolinium – Better to be Safe than Sorry? June 19, 2019. By Jane Mundy.
Washington, DC: The FDA in December 2017 recommended that repeated use of MRIs with gadolinium contrast dye be minimized wherever possible, and when MRIs are taken closely together in particular. It’s like a Catch-22: an MRI can detect cancer but it can also pose certain risks -- is it better to be safe than sorry?
Read [ MRI with Gadolinium – Better to be Safe than Sorry? ]

“I was a Gadolinium Guinea Pig,” says Woman Diagnosed with Kidney Problems

“I was a Gadolinium Guinea Pig,” says Woman Diagnosed with Kidney Problems April 17, 2019. By Jane Mundy.
Boulder, CO: Nicole had over two dozen MRI’s with gadolinium contrast dye before she discovered the risks and side effects associated with this heavy metal – side effects the FDA has known of since at least 2007, when it slapped a black-box warning on all gadolinium-based contrast agents for MRI, detailing an increased risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis with kidney-disease patients.
Read [ “I was a Gadolinium Guinea Pig,” says Woman Diagnosed with Kidney Problems ]

Take the MRI, Hold the Gadolinium

Take the MRI, Hold the Gadolinium February 27, 2019. By Jane Mundy.

Tampa, FL: Studies have shown that a host of conditions are characterized by retention of gadolinium, and the proven retention of this heavy metal in brain tissue has been named “gadolinium storage condition”. Armed with these facts, Virginia says she refused to have a second MRI with contrast dye and her radiologist was okay with that.


Gadolinium is a clear, non-radioactive chemical compound used with patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Doctors say the MRI contrast agent is part of an essential toolbox to save lives and that it is safe. But a number of MRI lawsuits filed against gadolinium manufacturers say otherwise.


For instance, the actor and martial artist Chuck Norris has another fight on his hands—this time with companies who make gadolinium-based products. His wife Gena is suffering from Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) after undergoing three contrast-enhanced MRIs in a one-week period. The "Gadolinium in Humans" paper from the American Journal of Radiology says that Gadolinium Storage Condition is the excess of gadolinium in patients with normal renal function, and Gadolinium Deposition Disease occurs when a patient has an excess of gadolinium in their system, but they have normal or adequate renal function.


According to Dr. Richard Semelka, Gadoliniumn Deposition Disease (GDD) symptoms must start within minutes to one month after administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA). Second, the symptoms experienced by the patient after GBCA administration must be new, and not preexisting. There are now six symptoms (below) that are critical diagnostic findings for GDD, states Dr. Semelka. One of those symptoms is head pain.


“I had my first MRI last October. Two weeks later the headaches started and wouldn’t go away,” says Virginia. “They started around noon every day and got progressively worse. I’ve never had headaches like this before and they lasted for months. Then they just stopped, right out of the blue. They stopped as strangely as they started, but my shoulder and arm pain is still there.”


“I had problems with my shoulder and arm in the past, so I don’t know if it is linked to the MRI,” Virginia adds. “Physiotherapy helps but nothing helped the headaches, and I am sure that is related; these head pains were too coincidental. They went away but my gadolinium concerns are still here. I don’t know enough about it, and I don’t think the medical profession does either."


The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (Nov 2018) published a study saying that, Although the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis in patients with renal impairment is well-documented, over recent years it has become apparent that exposure to GBCAs can potentially result in gadolinium deposition within human bone and brain tissue even in the presence of normal renal function. Approximately 30 million magnetic resonance imaging scans are enhanced with gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) worldwide.


Virginia had this first MRI with contrast dye for breast cancer. The second scheduled MRI was to detect endometrial cancer.


“From what I understand now, once gadolinium is in your body, it stays in your body and that concerns me. I was worried so I called the hospital ahead of time and asked if I was going to get the dye,” says Virginia. “The technician said I didn’t need it so I didn’t have to arrive 90 minutes early. When I got there, however, the radiologist said I was 90 minutes late and that I was supposed to have the contrast agent – it takes 90 minutes to get into your system. Then he said, ‘We’ll just go ahead without it.’ And that worked for me.”


Virginia’s MRI did show a benign lump and it found fibroids–without using the MRI contrast dye. “I am so done with this gadolinium,” Virginia says. “As it turns out, and this is good for your LawyersandSettlements readers to know, I didn’t even need the contrast agent with this second MRI!”



The 6 main clinical criteria for Gadolinium Deposition Disease, according to Dr. Semelka are:


1. Intense burning of the skin and skin substrate. Arising in early stage (early on after GBCA): This can be an all over feeling in the body, but often may be localized to the trunk region or distal extremities.


2. Intense boring pain in bones or joints. Arising in early stage (early on after GBCA): This can be any bones or any joints. Often the joints may be peripheral but can also be large joints like the knee or hip. Any bones can have severe point pain, but rib pain is quite distinctive for the disease.


3. Brain fog. Arising in early stage (early on after GBCA): Many terms have been used for this: mental confusion sounds more scientific, but brain fog gets the point across well and succinctly. Brain fog is also a prominent feature of lead toxicity, which is another heavy metal toxicity.


4. Muscle vibrations (muscle fasciculations) and skin pins and needles/tingling (early on after GBCA). These symptoms may represent part of the same process that is causing brain fog. Muscle vibrations/twitching and pins and needles skin sensations generally reflect nerve disease (neuropathy).


5. Head pain (early on after GBCA). Headache is both a very common occurrence and shows tremendous variability. GDD sufferers describe it as a head pain, and unlike any other type of head-ache they have previously experienced. These two properties provide differentiating features for this entity. Some describe it as a burning pain and as an extreme tightness feeling (like a tight bathing cap on their head).


6. Distal arm and leg skin/skin substrate thickening, discoloration, and pain. Arising in the subacute stage (2 weeks +): This is very much like the principal features of NSF, but generally less severe. Instead of woodiness, doughiness; instead of redness, pinkness; instead of extreme joint contractures, stiffness of joints and decreased range of motion. Skin tightness is a feature of GDD as well. This symptom complex should be expected.
Read [ Take the MRI, Hold the Gadolinium ]

FDA Approves New MRI Contrast Agent

FDA Approves New MRI Contrast Agent April 12, 2011. By Charles Benson.
Wayne, NJ The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new MRI contrast agent called Gadavist for people having the imaging conducted on their central nervous system, HealthDay News reports.
Read [ FDA Approves New MRI Contrast Agent ]

New Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent Approved

New Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent Approved March 26, 2011. By Heidi Turner.
Washington, DC The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved another MRI contrast agent that contains gadolinium, despite a black box warning alerting patients to the risk of MRI contrast side effects. The new MRI contrast agent will also include the warning about the risk of gadolinium kidney failure, although the FDA reports that it is thought to have a lower risk of MRI kidney damage than other contrast agents.
Read [ New Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent Approved ]

MRI Kidney Isn't the Only MRI Health Risk

MRI Kidney Isn't the Only MRI Health Risk March 10, 2011. By Gordon Gibb.
Calgary, AB Risks involving MRI kidney and the impact MRI contrast agents have on patients suffering from kidney disease have been a concern over the last few years. Contrast agents containing gadolinium, which helps technicians produce a clearer picture, can cause harm if not expelled from the body efficiently following an MRI procedure. That's the kidney's role. When a patient suffering from kidney disease or kidney failure is given an MRI contrast agent, MRI dialysis is required to prevent the onset of horrific adverse reactions.
Read [ MRI Kidney Isn't the Only MRI Health Risk ]

Lawsuit against General Electric over MRI Health Risks Settled

Lawsuit against General Electric over MRI Health Risks Settled February 11, 2011. By Charles Benson.
Cleveland, OH A last-minute settlement was reached recently in a lawsuit against General Electric over the relationship between its drug Omniscan and MRI health risks, the Frederick County Times reports.
Read [ Lawsuit against General Electric over MRI Health Risks Settled ]

MRI Health Risks beyond the Contrast Agent

MRI Health Risks beyond the Contrast Agent January 29, 2011. By Gordon Gibb.
Cleveland, OH Various MRI risks, such as MRI contrast side effects directly impacting the kidney (contrast agent toxicity resulting from poorly performing kidneys, which some refer to as MRI kidney), is not the only risk associated with magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with pacemakers can also experience MRI health risks, which leaves a doctor with somewhat of a conundrum—the risk of ordering an MRI on a patient with an implanted defibrillator v. eschewing the MRI and risking ill health stemming from whatever the MRI was intended to identify and isolate.
Read [ MRI Health Risks beyond the Contrast Agent ]

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