Doctors blind to medical-imaging chemical's effects

Doctors give millions of patients iodide each year in order to see deep into their bodies during medical scans. What doctors couldn't see is that the "contrast agent" increases the risk of thyroid disease.

The first large-scale study of iodide's effect on the thyroid was just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed data on nearly 2,000 patients treated at Boston-area hospitals for various conditions and found that peoe who later developed thyroid disease were two to three times more likely to have been injected with an iodide contrast agent than those who didn't develop the disease.

It was already known that sudden exposure to high iodide levels can disrupt thyroid function, but despite the fact that a typical iodide contrast agent contains 90 to several hundred times recommended daily levels of the chemical, little research had been conducted on how iodide affects thyroid functioning. Now that we do know the effects, the impact looms large: Approximately 80 million doses of iodinated contrast agents are administered worldwide each year.

Have you been harmed by an iodide contrast agent or other medical product? Contact Hodes Milman for a free case evaluation. We're aggressive personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers based in Orange County, serving all of California. We have the experience to take on the medical industry and have achieved multi-million dollar verdicts for our clients.