• Patients and health care providers should discuss how long patients may emit detectable radiation following treatment.
• Patients should obtain a letter from their doctors that contains the following information: the patient's name, contact information for the testing facility, the name of nuclear medicine procedure, the date of the treatment or test, the radionuclide that was used, its half-life, its administered activity and 24-hour contact information.
• Patients should let their doctors know if security personnel stop them after triggering radiation devices. SNM asks that doctors report such incidents so the society may be able to identify and help educate specific authorities.

More Americans are receiving nuclear medicine treatments and tests. Every major hospital in this country has a nuclear medicine department, and last year, 19.7 million nuclear medicine procedures were performed on 17.2 million women, men and children in more than 7,200 medical sites in the United States--a 15 percent increase from four years ago. For more information about nuclear medicine, please visit SNM's Web site at http://www.snm.org.