Radiation Complaints Prompt FDA To Caution Radiation Equipment Manufacturers

April 9th, 2010 - 7:46 pm ICT by GD  

By Ranjan Bhaduri
r265666_1110553Apr 9, (THAINDIAN NEWS) FDA or the Food and Drug Administration of the USA is going to tighten norms for giving approval to radiation equipments used for treating fatal diseases like cancer. It revealed recently that it has got near about 1200 1,200 complaints about radiation devices in the past one decade. Hence it has asked the manufacturers of such devices to adhere to safety protocols and develop more reliable devices. It has sent letters to 93 such companies. The companies that have come under the scanner of the FDA include Philips, Siemens, Varian Medical Systems, Hitachi and some others.

Excess radiation emitted by medical radiation equipments have made the doctors and medical experts worried worldwide. Excessive radiation may lead to skin problems and burns in some of the instances. Some devices fail to deliver the safe amount of radiation owing to software glitches. It is quite obvious that all the causes of problems in such devices are not known to FDA and that is why it wants to get into the roots of the matter. It has also said that the patients should take the advice of the qualified doctors before going for radiation therapy.

The FDA will not allow new radiation equipments to get released in the market that get reviewed by third-party reviewers. The health bodies are of the opinion that FDA should have come up with such a step much earlier. Now that The FDA has issued official warning about adhering to safety norms, it is expected that the manufacturers of radiation devices will sit up and take notice. A workshop is scheduled to take place on this subject.

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