Alliance for MRI European Parliament Launch - Time to Deliver for Patients

In early 2010 the European Parliament and Council will be sent a proposal from the European Commission to amend Directive 2004/40/EC on electromagnetic fields. This revision is as a result of the concerns raised by the Alliance for MRI and a recognition by the EU institutions that the Directive severely curtails the use of MRI to the detriment of patients in Europe.

Founding members of the Alliance for MRI, the European Society of Radiology (ESR), and the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA), will call on members of the newly elected European Parliament to support a derogation for all uses of MRI from the exposure limits set in the EU Physical Agents Directive 2004/40/EC (EMF).

The Alliance for MRI aims to ensure that the threat posed by the EU Physical Agents 2004/40/EC (EMF) to the future of MR is averted and that patients in Europe will not be precluded from state-of-the-art healthcare services. Europe currently holds a leading position in the research and development of this technology and patients are provided with the highest standard of care.

The exposure limits in the Directive have now been proven to be detrimental to patient care, most notably restricting and limiting the use of MRI in interventional applications and in imaging vulnerable patients and children where closer patient contact is required. Furthermore, new research and developments in MRI will be severely restricted as will routine cleaning and maintenance of MRI equipment.

MRI has been used for over 25 years, imaging up to 500 million patients without evidence of harm to workers due to EMF exposure. It is also well known that MRI is free from health risks associated with ionizing radiation such as x-rays, which would form the alternative to MRI in many situations.

For further information, please visit: http://www.alliance-for-mri.org

About the Alliance for MRI
The Alliance for MRI is a coalition of European Parliamentarians, patient groups, leading European scientists and the medical community, who together are seeking to avert the serious threat posed by EU health and safety legislation to the clinical and research use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

The Alliance for MRI was officially launched in March 2007 in response to the implementation of the EU Physical Agents 2004/40/EC (EMF) Directive in April 2008. The Alliance was founded by the European Society of Radiology, the European Federation of Neurological Associations and Dr. Swoboda MEP, Vice-Chairman of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.

In October 2007 the European Commission proposed the postponement of the implementation deadline from April 2008 to April 2012 to allow more time for the evaluation of new data on EMF and its short-term effects on the human body. The Commission stated that it was never the intention of this Directive to impede the practice of MRI and the postponement was approved by the European Parliament and the Council.

The Alliance is supported by:

Leading Members of the European Parliament
Alejandro Cercas (S&D) ES, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (ALDE) DE, Robert Goebbels (PES) LU, Stephen Hughes (S&D) UK, Ville Itälä (EPP/ED) FI, Anneli Jäätteenmäki (ALDE) FI, Eija-Riitta Korhola (EPP/ED) FI, Peter Liese (EPP) DE, Elizabeth Lynne (ALDE) UK, Linda McAvan (S&D) UK, Dr. Angelika Niebler (EPP/ED) DE, Siiri Oviir (ALDE) EST, Antonio Panzeri Pier (S&D) IT, Frédérique Ries (ALDE) BE, Zuzana Roithová (EPP/ED) CZ, Hannes Swoboda (S&D) AT (Founding member), Thomas Ulmer (EPP/ED) DE, Dr. Anja Weisgerber (EPP/ED) DE

European and National patient groups
European Federation of Neurological Associations (Founding member); including the European Parkinson's Disease Association, The European MS Platform and the European Headache Alliance, The European Heart Network, Europa Donna, The European Patients Forum, Cancer Research UK, The International Diabetes Federation - Europe, Alzheimer Europe, The WHO Collaborative Centre for Research, training and treatment in Epilepsy, The Austrian Lung Association, The Austrian Epilepsy Association, Werkgroep Hersentumoren vzw (Belgian Brain Tumour Group), Epilepsy Centres of the Netherlands Foundation: SEIN

Representative Groups of Scientists

• European Society of Radiology (Founding Member) and institutional members (below)
• The Wellcome Trust
• European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB)
• European Union of Medical Specialists
• European Brain Council
• Luxembourg Medical Council
• European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR)
• The Society and College of Radiographers
• European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO)
• European CanCer Organisation (ECCO)
• European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP)
• European Federation of Radiographer Societies

Further information is available at www.alliance-for-mri.org.