A lawsuit has been filed against medical device manufacturers in California. Why? Who filed it? Well, it turns out actor Chuck Norris filed the lawsuit, “alleging a chemical used in MRI imaging scans poisoned his wife,” Gena. According to Norris and the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, gadolinium that was injected into his wife “to improve the clarity of her MRIs have left her weak and tired and with debilitating bouts of pain and a burning sensation.”But what is Gadolinium? For starters, it's a common metal “found in so-called contrast agents used in many MRIs.” Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a report earlier this year declaring there was “no evidence that retained gadolinium was harmful,” other studies have been conducted and discovered that the metal is “retained by organs such as the brain, bones, and skin.” With all the research on the table, an agency in the European Union even issued a recommendation for “suspending some gadolinium contrast agents as a precaution.”That hasn't stopped medical professionals from viewing the metals as a life-saving tool. For example, the American College of Radiology reported last year that “gadolinium-based contrast agents have been used for diagnosis and treatment guidance in more than 300 million patients worldwide since the late 1980s and provide crucial, life-saving medical information.”

Gadolinium Element Cell; Image Courtesy of Sciencenotes.org

It's important to note that this isn't the first lawsuit that Cutter Law, the law firm representing Norris, has filed on “behalf of people who it also says are suffering from gadolinium poisoning.” In fact, it's only one out of numerous others. However, Norris' lawsuit “acknowledges no official, publicly stated link between gadolinium and symptoms reported by people who believe the metal has affected their health.” Why? A big reason for this is that “blood and urine testing for gadolinium only became available recently and most doctors were not aware of any disease that was associated with gadolinium other than one that affects people with kidney problems,” according to the lawsuit. The fact that gadolinium poisoning is a “very misdiagnosed and under-diagnosed condition” doesn't help matters.So what does the lawsuit hope to accomplish? Given the facts and studies surrounding gadolinium, it's understandable why Norris and his wife would be upset about the matter and want justice, especially if it turns out that Mrs. Norris' condition is directly linked to the metal. That being said, according to the lawsuit, Norris is accusing “several manufacturers of gadolinium contrast agents of knowing about their risks, but failing to warn consumers.” As a result, the lawsuit is seeking “more than $10 million in damages,” to help offset the millions of dollars the Norris' have already had to spend on treatment.

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Chuck Norris sues over MRI chemical he says poisoned wifeCHUCK NORRIS SUES MEDICAL COMPANY FOR ALLEGEDLY POISONING HIS WIFE