The latest medical isotope shortage hitting B.C. this week is a mere hiccup compared with the months-long dearth of a few years ago.
Representatives from the Provincial Health Services Authority said in a teleconference Monday the short shutdown of the Chalk River nuclear reactor in Ontario is causing some non-urgent tests to be postponed.
But urgent and emergency cases are still dealt with, said Sue Avery, Lower Mainland Integrated Medical Imaging executive director.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 urgent, they鈥檙e going to get their test done.鈥�
Exact figures for those affected weren鈥檛 available mid-Monday, but she didn鈥檛 expect there to be many patients having to rebook tests for various bone and organ scans requiring the isotopes.
Royal Inland Hospital is among the facilities affected, but officials did not have full details of the impact Monday.
B.C. learned from its previous experience when the Chalk River was shut down in 2009, an event that affected the global medical isotope supply.
This go-round is nothing like that, with delays expected to be a few days.
It also helps that B.C. now gets its isotopes from two pharmaceutical companies, Alantheus and Mallinckrodt, although they both draw on Chalk River.
The other two major sources of medical isotopes are in the Netherlands and South Africa, but plants in both countries are currently having problems.
鈥淲e would welcome a stable supply of isotopes into the province. Part of that question would be better asked of the federal government. But the part we can answer is that we have ensured we have a diversified supply and we have continued to do that by having more than one supply vendor in the province. It allows us when we have disruptions to better manage those disruptions and ensure patient impact is minimized,鈥� said Avery.
Another means of producing medical isotopes is being explored, but there won鈥檛 be answers for at least six months.
Susan Larson, operations director for Lower Mainland Integrated Medical Imaging, said the impact of the shortage was just being seen Monday and by Tuesday, she expected isotopes would be back in the distribution chain within B.C.
鈥淭he last shortage lasted for months. This is like a supply disruption. There is no comparison to the last time. It went on for months and months.鈥�
There have been several isotope shortages in B.C., not always due to reactor problems, but sometimes something as simple as the 91原创 airport being fogged in, said Avery.
As a result, the nuclear-medicine community is good at triaging its patients and ensuring those who need tests the most get them.
鈥淓ach case is different. Everybody has a different history. It鈥檚 done on a case by case basis,鈥� she said.
鈥淒oes it mean people are not inconvenienced? No. Some people might have to have their tests rescheduled.鈥�
