Reston, VA-based SNM is commending Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for their introduction of the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2011.
The bill (S 99) is designed to establish a technology-neutral program to support the production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) for medical uses in the U.S. It calls for the U.S. to gradually reduce the export of highly enriched uranium for the production of medical isotopes over a period of seven years.
There are currently six international producers of Mo-99 approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to import the product into the U.S., but no U.S. facilities manufacture Mo-99 for medical uses.
SNM joins the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals and other medical groups to support the passage of S 99. A similar bill is expected to be introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in the coming weeks.
