Hospitality-permitted individuals

Pharmaceutical companies should not pay any costs associated with individuals accompanying invited healthcare professionals. 

Hospitality may be extended only to individuals who qualify as participants in their own right. 

Travel costs and expenses for family or travelling companions must not be paid for or subsidised by the sponsoring company. 

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Hospitality must not be extended beyond a reasonable period after the event. It must always be secondary to the main purpose of the meeting, which is the scientific goal. The presence of accompanying individuals shall not be permitted. In no case shall social or cultural aspects predominate over scientific issues. 

All state laws require reporting of specific communicable diseases and unusual disease occurrences. The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recognizes the importance of sharing PHI to accomplish essential public health objectives (6). Therefore, the HIPAA Privacy rule expressly permits clinicians and hospitals to share PHI for public health purposes (6). Specifically, HIPAA allows covered entities, without individual authorization, to disclose PHI to a public... 

If the medical treatment facility (MTF) or hospital becomes contaminated with chemical agent, not only does it become useless to render care, but it also exposes the staff and all other patients to chemical contamination. All precautions must be used to avoid this issue. Only very limited access to the hospital or MTF should be permitted. At most, only one or two entrances to the hospital should be used by incoming patients and employees. At these entrances, proof of decontamination or noncontamination, in the form of checking the individual with a chemical agent monitor (CAM) for contamination, must be presented before admission. AU other entrances must be locked down. Security guards posted on the inside of aU entrances would prevent unauthorized entrance from outside. Remember, people exiting the hospital could hold the door open to admit contaminated individuals from the outside. 

A radionuclide refers to any type of radioactive material including elements and isotopes of elements. Most radioactive materials used in nuclear medicine consist of isotopes since individual medical treatment may require an isotope with specific radioactive properties. Radioisotopes show how the disease process alters the normal function of an organ. A patient swallows, inhales, or receives an injection of a tiny amount of a radioisotope. Cameras then reveal where the isotope accumulates in the body. Laboratory tests use radioisotopes to measure important substances in the body including thyroid hormones. Some facilities use isotopes to sterilize hospital itans such as sutures, syringes, catheters, and hospital clothing otherwise destroyed by heat sterilization. Sterilization using radioisotopes can prove valuable because the process permits the itans to ranain in their sealed packages. NRC rules outline minimum safety requiranents for workers and patients. 

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