EU rules threaten research, diagnosis and treatment in MRI

In 2004 an EU Directive was passed that sets limits on occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields. These limits, when incorporated into UK law in 2008, will make many procedures using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) illegal (for a three page summary click here).

In September 2005, leading scientists sent a letter expressing their concerns about the directive to the Secretary of State for Health (see here), and Sense About Science held a press briefing to highlight the potential impact of the Directive on clinical practice and research. This was widely reported in national press (see here).

Sense About Science continued to work with radiologists to reach a satisfactory, evidence-based conclusion to this saga.

Future of MRI scans on safer ground - for now

Scientists are delighted with the European Commission’s announcement to postpone the implementation of a Directive that would have had disastrous consequences for clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the UK. The Commission’s decision to postpone the Directive for at least four years, while scientific reviews are conducted, follows an exhaustive campaign by scientists, clinicians, scientific bodies and research funders, to highlight the poor scientific basis of the legislation.

Professor Peter Jezzard, Herbert Dunhill Professor of Neuro-imaging, Centre for Functional MRI in the Brain, University of Oxford; Co-Director, Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research:
“This is good news. Clearly there is still work to be done in convincing the Commissioner of the safety of MRI, given that this only defers the problem, but the delay does at least provide the scientific community with an opportunity to assemble further evidence supporting the assertions that we have made all along.”

Tracey Brown, Director, Sense About Science:
“When scientists approached us with their frustrations at the lack of response to their concerns about the legislation, we were surprised that no-one involved in the policy had considered the public impact - not only the unnecessary threat to healthcare and research, but also the likely confusion about the relative risks of different types of scans. The scientific reasoning was largely absent but there was a lot of resistance to changing a directive already passed. Today’s announcement shows that, armed with scientific reasoning, scientists were able to convince individuals in parliament and government, and eventually the Commission, that the problem needed to be sorted out. It’s a victory for scientific reasoning over obstinacy.”

Update, November 2006

Update, June 2006

Update, May 2006

Update, March 2006

Update, February 2006

Update, December 2005

In February 2005 Sense About Science held a ‘state of the debate’ briefing on radiodiagnostics in Westminster. Read about it here.

Last updated: June 17 2008

Sense About Science is an independent charitable trust promoting good science and evidence in public debates. We do this by promoting respect for evidence and by urging scientists to engage actively with a wide range of groups, particularly when debates are controversial or difficult. We work with scientists to respond to inaccuracies in public claims about science, medicine, and technology; promote the benefits of scientific research to the public; help those who need expert help contact scientists about issues of importance; brief non-specialists on scientific developments and practices. Sense About Science is governed by a Board of Trustees and run by a small office staff. We are supported by an Advisory Council and some 1,000 scientists and other specialists, ranging from Nobel Laureates to postdoctoral fellows, who are signed up to our database, Evidence Base. We also work with younger scientists in our VoYS (Voice of Young Science) programme, which you can read more about here.