The panel includes Prof. Nicholas Gourtsoyiannis, ESR President, Prof. Gabriel Krestin, Chairman of the ESR Research Committee, Dr. Hannes Swoboda, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of the Party of European Socialists, as well as Ingele Meulenbergs of the European Federation of Neurological Associations, who will present statements on the EMF issue, followed by discussion.
The "Alliance for MRI" is a coalition of European Parliamentarians, patient groups, leading European scientists and the medical community, who together are seeking to avert the serious threat posed by EU health and safety legislation to the clinical and research use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
In 2004, the European Union adopted the EU Physical Agents 2004/40/EC (EMF) Directive to reduce adverse health effects on workers (such as dizziness) linked to short-term exposure to electro-magnetic fields. The deadline for implementing the Directive is April 2008.
The European Commission's original impact assessment (which was ten years old) did not cover the social and economic consequences of legislating in this area. As a result, the impact on the use of MRI, while unintended, has serious consequences for healthcare provision and patient welfare.
- It threatens clinical and research use of MRI.
- It will make it more difficult for healthcare staff to care for patients, such as children, the elderly or those who are anaesthetized, who need help or comfort during scans. Some of these patients may be forced to use technologies with significant proven health risks, such as X-Rays or CT scanners.
- It will stop the use of MRI for interventional and surgical procedures.
- It will curtail cutting edge research in the field of MRI, denying patients innovative treatments in the future.
The Alliance for MRI requests that, as a matter of urgency, the European Commission:
1. Inform Member States, notably Ministries of Health as well as implementing ministries and agencies, of the unintended consequences of the Directive;
2. Inform Member States of the CommissionÂ’s expert study currently being undertaken into the impact of the Directive on MRI, and request a delay in implementing the legislation until the results of the study are known (expected in October 2007);
3. Propose an amendment to the legislation, introducing an EU-wide derogation for MRI.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.esr-online.org