Dear Spinlanders:
Please read the letter below from the president of ISMRM to its members
regarding the impending helium shortage (outrage!). I hope and wish that
members of the AMMRL would also write to their congressional
Representatives and Senators for immediate action on this.
Thanks
Chacko
*--
V.P.Chacko, Ph.D.
Manager, High Field MR Facilities
The Johns Hopkins University, Sch. Med.
203 Traylor Building
720 Rutland Avenue
Baltimore MD 21205-2109
Phone: 410-955-4220
FAX: 410-614-1948
*
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Roberta Kravitz <roberta_at_ismrm.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 6:25 AM
Subject: Message from Peter Jezzard, ISMRM President, and Jeff Neil, ISMRM
Vice-President
To: "ISMRM U.S. Members" <us_members_at_ismrm.org>
** ** ** ** ** **
Dear ****U.S.**** Members of ISMRM,****
** **
I would like to make you aware of a legislative matter in the US Congress
that it seems may well have implications for our members. In the 1920s the
US Government created a reserve of helium that is held in ****Texas****. In
the 1990s it was decided that this helium reserve should be sold off until
such time as the costs of its creation had been paid off. Earlier in the
year the costs of the facility were paid off, and so under the original
legislation the facility must cease providing helium to commercial sources
on October 7th 2013. Since this Government source of helium represents
about 30% of the worlds supply at present, and since there are various
difficulties at other major suppliers around the world, there would be a
significant impact of the US Government stopping the supply of their
reserves in ****Texas****. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate
have bills that seek to continue the supply, however the legislators have
not agreed on how the future funds generated from the Government reserves
should be used. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management will need to start
the shutdown procedures on October 1st 2013 unless new legislation is
passed.****
** **
Although Congress may pass a Continuing Resolution to at least delay the
plant shutdown, this will only delay the crisis for a matter of weeks.****
** **
The ISMRM Board has sent a letter to House and Senate leaders to encourage
them to pass legislation that will head off a helium crisis (which would
affect the ****US**** first, but which would have global consequences soon
after).****
** **
I would therefore invite you to write to your representatives in Congress
and urge them to focus on this effort. For your information below you will
find a copy of the letter that the Board of Trustees has sent to Congress.
You may wish to adapt this letter for your own purposes.****
** **
To obtain the email address of your House Representative, use this web site:
****
** **
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/****
** **
To obtain a contact email for your Senators, use:****
** **
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm****
** **
Or you can use: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/****
** **
Regards, ****
** **
Peter Jezzard, ISMRM President****
Jeff Neil, ISMRM Vice President****
** **
** **
*Annex: Copy of letter from Board of Trustees*:****
** **
Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Pelosi, Leader Reid and Leader McConnell:****
** **
On behalf of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
(ISMRM) we strongly appeal to Congress to act promptly to approve
legislation to secure the ****US**** helium supply and send this
legislation to the President before October 1. ****
** **
Helium is essential for MRI scanners that are used daily in the
****US****healthcare system for the diagnosis and management of many
diseases. A
shortage of helium and the resultant skyrocketing helium price would
unnecessarily increase the cost of MRI scans, and thus medical care in the *
***US****, and could even disrupt the ability of MRI scanners to function.
Helium also has importance to a large number of manufacturing processes and
is a key material for the scientific research community beyond its use in
clinical MRI scanners. As such, a significant number of jobs, economic
output, and exports from the ****United States**** depend on a continuous
supply of helium. Helium is also critical to products and systems that
support the ****United States**** national defense and homeland security.**
**
** **
Congress must act immediately to avert a shortage of this essential
commodity. Under existing law, the Federal Helium Reserve a federal
facility that provides approximately 50 percent of domestic supplies of
helium will no longer be authorized after October 7 to sell to private
entities that help drive our economy. The House has overwhelmingly passed
a bipartisan bill to continue the supply of helium (H.R. 527), and the
Senate is considering bipartisan legislation (S. 783). It is imperative
that Congress act in advance of this deadline.****
** **
The ISMRM is the premier scientific society for research in the field of
magnetic resonance as applied to medicine, including the development and
application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is fair to say that *all
* the key developments in MRI over the past 30 years have arisen from
amongst members of ISMRM and its predecessor scientific societies. We urge
Congress to act immediately through any legislative vehicle possible.
Immediate passage of legislation is needed to prevent a needless disruption
to the ****U.S.**** economy and healthcare sector.****
** **
Sincerely,****
** **
Peter Jezzard,
PhD
Jeff Neil, MD, PhD****
President,
ISMRM
Vice President, ISMRM****
** **
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)****
Section for Magnetic Resonance Technologists (SMRT)****
****2030 Addison Street, Suite 700********
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
T: +1 (510) 841-1899 F: +1 (510) 841-2340****
www.ismrm.org www.facebook.com/ISMRM twitter.com/ismrm****
Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB, ****Milan**, **Italy****, 10-16 May 2014
Received on Tue Sep 10 2013 - 03:40:12 MST