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.”
In February 2005 Sense About Science held a ‘state of the debate’ briefing on radiodiagnostics in Westminster. Read about it here.
Last updated: December 17 2008