The poison in MRIs

You might have heard that my wife, Gena, and I were in the news recently because of the gadolinium poisoning she received through her Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, "a diagnostic technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a detailed image of the body's soft tissue and bones."

I know what you're thinking: poisoning? Yes, poisoning. Let me explain. Actually, let my wife explain what happened after she had three MRIs in one week to analyze her rheumatoid arthritis, and the avalanche of health issues that followed.

On a broadcast of "Full Measure," while just a fraction of the whole story because of time constraints, Gena detailed the beginnings of her toxic odyssey: "I was in the emergency room for five or six nights in a row. The symptoms continued to get worse and worse. … The burning kept traveling. They'd ask, 'What's wrong?' I said, 'I don't know. All I can tell you is that I'm burning. I feel like I have acid in my tissues all over. I'm on fire!'"

I'll never forget the excruciating pain on her face, and the way her body would go into contortions. She could hardly swallow. As I explained on "Full Measure," I saw death in her eyes. My wife was dying in front of my eyes.

(If you missed the broadcast of "Full Measure," you can watch in its entirety here.)

America has more than 11,500 MRI machines, at least seven times more than any other country in the world except Japan. There are 36,000 units worldwide, with 2,500 additional units being sold globally every year. The U.S. purchases 45 percent of those new machine sales.

We're not overlooking the good MRIs can do. We're speaking out against the dangers of gadolinium use in MRIs.

Chuck Norris provides real solutions to our county's problems and a way to reawaken the American dream in his best-seller, "Black Belt Patriotism."

Gadolinium-based contrast agents, or GBCAs, are injected in about one-third of the 60 million MRIs performed annually – 30 million in the U.S. alone (that's one in 10 Americans).

Gadolinium is a heavy metal chemical agent that is injected to enhance the images of a MRI. It's not naturally found in the human body. Its proponents say it is always expelled from the body, primarily through the kidneys. But studies have shown it can be retained in the brain, bones, skin and others parts of the body.

More and more doctors and health-care professionals are coming forward to discuss the dangers of GBCAs.

We are so thankful for the expertise of Dallas toxicologist of internal medicine Dr. Alfred Johnson, who helped direct Gena's ongoing treatment.

Dr. Johnson explained: "Is it different batches of gadolinium that aren't made correctly, or there's some problem with it, or is a problem with that individual's metabolic genetic aspect that they don't tolerate it very well? Regardless, what I've seen in the patients I've treated is high levels of gadolinium in their tissues."

HealthLine.com reported on the risk of brain deposits from repeated use of certain contrast agents used during MRI tests, according to Dr. Emanuel Kanal, the director of magnetic resonance services and professor of radiology and neuroradiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Kanal said it's difficult to know the significance of the recent research, but he noted there are "several things [that] are perturbing."

First, scientists didn't expect to find a substance called gadolinium deposited in MRI patients' brains.

Second, he said, "this effect isn't seen equally among the various FDA-approved gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) used in MRIs. 'That's the elephant in the room.'"

In May, the European Medicines Agency Committee, which is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines of more than 500 million people in the European Union, made a striking recommendation: It recommended a ban suspending the use of Linear GBCAs, including the biggest sellers by General Electric and Bayer.

In the same month, after a two-year study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, said it had "not found any evidence of adverse events from the brain's retention of gadolinium after MRI." Surprised? Still, it highly admonished clinicians to "limit use" of GBCAs. The agency also confessed that while the review did not "identify" adverse health events related to brain retention, the agency wasn't ruling it out. The FDA said it will continue to study the effects of GBCAs, especially concerning "chronic pain and various other systems." Right, while millions are injected with GBCAs as the guinea pigs!

The truth is, internal scientific documents from the FDA that are more than a decade old reveal the agency has known about the potential adverse affects of GBCAs for a long time, but it did nothing about it. That data concluded that, starting in 2006, there was a "strong association between gadolinium contrast agents and NSF [Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a deadly manmade disease]."

In 2007, the FDA issued a "black box warning" to those with weak kidneys to avoid GBCAs at all costs.

In 2015, the FDA issued another warning that GBCAs could linger in the bodies of those without kidney problems.

What's wrong with this picture? Something doesn't smell right in the zoo! One person poisoned is one person too many.

The FDA is planning a public meeting to grapple with the outpouring of evidence and resistance it is receiving from the medical communities and beyond. This would be a meeting worth attending. If this meeting became a movement, it would be hard for the press or anyone to ignore.

On Monday, July 10, in Part 2, I will discuss the evidence of how children are being poisoned by gadolinium, more evidence of how the government is whitewashing its adverse effects, the only treatments we've discovered to rid GBCAs from the body's organs and systems and about a group of independent scientists who are studying the effects of gadolinium retention in the human body, while also developing an effective and safe treatment for those already suffering from gadolinium toxicity.

But you don't need to wait until then to take action. We must voice our concerns to the FDA, the World Health Organization and every medical community, including your local one. Take the following steps, and sign the petition here:

Encourage others to watch Gena and my "Full Measure" interview.
Warn physicians and patients about the risks of gadolinium. Make sure physicians are properly informing patients about its dangers.
Restrict gadolinium use to much smaller and infrequent doses and use only in cases where the benefits far outweigh the risks, like in matters of life and death or the most serious of health issues.
Invest in rapid development of safe gadolinium alternatives.
Sponsor large studies of gadolinium toxicity in patients who have undergone MRI scans.
Promote the development of effective treatments to remove toxic gadolinium from patients affected by it.

As Medscape.com recommends, report any problems with GBCAs by contacting MedWatch, the FDA's safety information and adverse event reporting program, by telephone at 1-800-FDA-1088; by fax at 1-800-FDA-0178; online; with postage-paid FDA form 3500; or by mail to MedWatch: 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20852-9787.

For the latest information about gadolinium toxicity, please visit Facebook, MRI Gadolinium Toxicity Illnesses, or the Light House Project.

When it comes to issues like gadolinium poisoning, Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) gave us all a worthy marching order: "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

Are you hungry for a fresh, inspiring look at the Bible? "The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians and the End of the Age" is available now.