Thomas Grist, MD was recently featured in The Washington Post’s “China’s restrictions on rare earths could hurt U.S. healthcare.” In the article, healthcare experts explain how patients suffering conditions like brain tumors, liver cancer, and heart attacks may be impacted if Beijing’s restriction of rare earth minerals leads to shortages.
In the medical field, rare earths are used in diagnostic technologies and treatments alike. Dr. Grist explained that one such rare earth, gadolinium, is used to produce contrast fluid for some MRI exams. This contrast agent assists in making diagnoses by lighting up abnormalities on the scan. There are no direct alternatives, so a shortage would impact patient care.
He cited a not-so-distant instance when shortages in materials impacted the medical field: the covid-19 pandemic. Factory lockdowns led to a shortage of iodine-based contrast medications used in procedures like CT scans. “It was very difficult for a period of time because there was a sudden cut off in our supply,” Dr. Grist said. “We all had to figure out ways to reduce the amount of contrast that we used — we delayed certain exams; we had to be creative.”
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