The Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA) has written a letter to Congress urging policymakers to keep the Federal Helium Reserve operational to avoid a major supply crisis early in 2013.
In the letter, MITA cautions that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be forced to shut down the reserve as early as April 2013. This would take 30% of the world helium supply off the market if Congress fails to act, according to MITA.
Failure to preserve a U.S. helium supply would reverberate through the U.S. medical imaging sector and the entire healthcare industry, Gail Rodriguez, MITA executive director, said in a statement. For example, MRI manufacturing facilities would have no choice but to slow down or shut down production, hospitals and physicians will have to turn patients away due to insufficient helium supply, and patients will not have access to the care they need, she said.
MITA is asking Congress to take action in the next several weeks to finalize a solution to the helium crisis beyond its initial discussions in the House of Representatives and Senate, and the introduction of legislation such as the Helium Stewardship Act of 2012 (S 2374).
