Press Release-I-05-052, NRC Cites Pennsylvania Hospital for Violation of Requirements

Press Release-I-05-052: NRC Cites Pennsylvania Hospital for Violation of Requirements

ML052900372
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/17/2005
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
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Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-05-052
Download: ML052900372 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

www.nrc.gov No. I-05-52 October 17, 2005

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC CITES PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL FOR VIOLATION OF REQUIREMENTS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, of Hershey, Pa., for a violation of NRC requirements. The NRC is not issuing a fine for this violation.

Based on an investigation conducted by the NRCs Office of Investigations, the agency determined that in three instances former Hershey nuclear medicine technicians used NRC-licensed radioactive material to perform unauthorized nuclear medicine tests on themselves in the 1996-1997 time-frame, in October 2002 and April 2004. NRC regulations require that a technician use byproduct material for medical uses only under the supervision of an authorized user physician.

The enforcement decision was reached through a process called Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR). Once the NRC identified the apparent violation, it offered Hershey the opportunity to attend a pre-decisional enforcement conference to discuss the apparent violations or exercise ADR. When choosing ADR, a company meets with the NRC and a mediator to resolve any disagreement on whether a violation occurred, to discuss the appropriate enforcement action and to gain alignment on the appropriate corrective actions. The ADR session between the Hershey Medical Center and the NRC was held on Aug. 23 in King of Prussia, Pa.

NRC and Hershey Medical Center have agreed that these medical administrations were not done in accordance with NRC regulations and that two of the administrations were deliberate. This did not have an impact on the health and safety of patients at the Medical Center. The facility has taken numerous corrective actions to ensure the events do not recur and has agreed to take additional actions, including providing orientation for new students and employees that describes this enforcement action, and both discussing this issue at professional conferences and communicating it via industry trade journals. Those commitments were confirmed in an order issued by the NRC.

Hershey Medical Center has waived its right to request a hearing on all or any part of the Confirmatory Order. Anyone other than the Medical Center that is adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing within 20 days.