ENS Event | |
|---|---|
04:00 Mar 31, 2026 | |
| Title | Lost Medical Source |
| Event Description | The following information was provided by the Florida Bureau of Radiation Control via email:
On April 1, 2026, at approximately 1315 EDT, a radioactive medical source was identified as missing from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. It was discovered that the drug Lutathera, which is a lutetium-177 (Lu-177) medical unsealed source used for intravenous therapy, had been accidentally discarded on March 31, 2026, at approximately 1600 EDT by a nuclear medicine technician. At the time of disposal, the activity was approximately 221 millicuries (mCi), and it was scheduled for patient administration on April 1, 2026, at an activity of approximately 202 mCi. The source has a half-life of 6.65 days. The source was fully sealed in its original packaging in a lead pig. Trash collection had already taken place before the source had been reported missing. The source is believed to have been transported to a landfill. Due to the sealed packaging and shielding, the risk of environmental contamination or public exposure is considered low. The source is expected to decay in the landfill because of its short physical half-life. Florida incident number: FL26-029 THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A 'Less than Cat 3' LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL Sources that are "Less than IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as moisture density gauges or thickness gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Moffitt Cancer Center Tampa, Florida (NRC Region 1) | |
| License number: | 4918-1 |
| Organization: | Florida Bureau Of Radiation Control |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+37.07 h1.545 days <br />0.221 weeks <br />0.0508 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Kendra Cooper 17:04 Apr 1, 2026 |
| NRC Officer: | Adam Koziol |
| Last Updated: | Apr 1, 2026 |
| 58229 - NRC Website | |
Moffitt Cancer Center with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 582292026-03-31T04:00:00031 March 2026 04:00:00
[Table view]Agreement State Lost Medical Source ENS 568532023-11-14T17:11:00014 November 2023 17:11:00 Agreement State Dose Greater than Prescribed 2026-03-31T04:00:00 | |