Can an MRI poison you?
Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris claims that his wife was poisoned by a chemical used in MRIs — an issue the medical community says needs further research.
The Norrises have sued 11 medical companies, alleging that gadolinium contrast dye gave Gena Norris “mul- tiple, debilitating bouts of pain and burning throughout her body,” kidney problems, cognitive impairment and other long-term health issues, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court.
Gena, who underwent three MRIs in 2012 after a rheuma- toid arthritis diagnosis, was hospitalized in 2013 for the symptoms outlined in the suit. Last week, she told CBS she “couldn’t think anymore,” and was experiencing muscle and memory issues.
The FDA has yet to find evidence that gadolinium, which is a contrast agent used in about one-third of all MRIs to get clearer images, is harmful if retained in the body. The only known adverse health effect — a painful skin condition known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis — occurs in those who have experienced kidney failure, according to a 2007 review published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society for Nephrology.
After two years of investigating the issue, an FDA drug advisory committee met in September to discuss whether the retention of gadolinium was a danger to patients.
The committee voted to put a label on gadolinium-based contrast agents, warning that gadolinium can be retained in the brain and other organs, although there is currently no evidence linking its retention to adverse health effects.
“The effects of gadolinium accumulation are not known,” Dr. David Hackney, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School who sat on the committee, tells The Post. “We don’t even know whether the symptoms in [Gena Norris’] case have anything to do with gadolinium.”
The committee also voted in favor of requiring drug manufacturers to further study the issue.
“It’s enough people with enough concerns that the FDA is saying, ‘We need to do more,’ ” Dr. Kimberly Applegate, division chief of pediatric radiology at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, tells The Post.
Applegate, also a member of the advisory committee, says there are other FDA-approved contrast agents that can be used during MRIs, and that doctors should consider using those until gadolinium’s unanswered questions are resolved by more research.
Still, Hackney emphasizes that the lack of a clear answer shouldn’t stop anyone from getting an MRI — or limit the amount per year patients receive — since they’re used to catch far more dangerous health issues. People with brain tumors, for example, may need a number of them in a short period of time, he says.
“There has been a lot of work to minimize the amount of gadolinium that is released, and doctors think about the possibility of gadolinium accumulation when deciding whether to give the contrast agent,” Hackney says. “It would be a tragedy if people who needed [an MRI] with gadolinium did not get it because of this concern.”