Brussels, 09/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - MEPs, patient groups, European scientists and the medical community joined forces in Vienna, Austria, on Friday 9 March to launch the 'Alliance for MRI' to prevent EU health and safety legislation inadvertently preventing clinical and research use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
MRI equipment is essential for diagnosing and treating illnesses, especially cancer, strokes, brain tumours and health attacks. MRI scans produce detailed pictures of the inner structure and function of patients' bodies by using strong magnetic fields and radio waves. In 2004, the EU adopted legislation to prevent adverse heart effects on workers linked to short-term exposure to electro-magnetic fields. Governments are now working to ensure the directive is implemented ahead of the April 2008 deadline. However, the original impact study, ten years old at the time, did not cover the economic and social consequences of the directive. EU Physical Agents Directive (2004/40/EC) establishes exposure limits and inadvertently restricts the use of MRI which will have a serious negative impact on the provision of healthcare and patient well-being, making it much more difficult for medical staff to help patients who need help or comfort during the scans. Professor Gabriel P. Krestin, Professor of Radiology at Erasmus Medical Centre at University Medical Centre Rotterdam in the Netherlands, estimates the new restrictions could affect up to 8 million MRI examinations performed in the EU every year, including more than 400,000 procedures involving children or the very ill, 80,000 patients under anaesthesia and 10,000 undergoing cutting edge interventional MRI procedures.
The Alliance for MRI explains that the exposure limits for MRI machines seem to have been compiled from hypothetical and incomplete information, and it is crucial that good scientific evidence is now used to put the perceived risks in proper context. It says that MRI has been safely used on more than half a billion patients for 25 years, who were exposed to up to 100 times the exposure limits laid down in the directive. The Alliance for MRI urges the European Commission to inform member states of the unintended consequences of the legislation; to request an implementation delay until the results of a new impact study currently being carried out are available; and to propose an amendment to the legislation, introducing an EU-wide derogation for MRI.
The initiative is being backed by some two dozen MEPs, including Austrian Socialist Hannes Swoboda, who says a solution is urgently needed. He points out that some member states, such as Austria and Finland, 'recognise the problem and are looking to implement the legislation with a national derogation for MRI. However, this would fragment the single European market and contravene European law… I will work with my colleagues in the European Parliament to secure an assurance from the European Commission that it will immediately inform member states about the unforeseen consequences of the legislation,' he added, calling for the directive to be revised as soon as possible.
The Alliance for MRI's founder members include the European Society of Radiology and the European Union of Medical Specialists. (oj)