Thank you, and good afternoon.
Nuclear medicine offers unique insights into disease that are not achievable with either CT or MRI alone. It is through a combination of functional imaging, which nuclear medicine excels at, and it is in conjunction with anatomic imaging such as CT and MRI that patients obtain the most benefit. Nuclear medicine also plays a vital role in the detection and treatment of various diseases such as cancer, heart disease, thyroid disorders, and blood clots in the lung, just to name a few.
Even though most of our conversation has been about cancer and heart disease, our patients range from newborns to people over 100 years old. So the impact of the medical isotope shortage is profound, affecting every Canadian who needs a nuclear medicine procedure. In order to accomplish this role, a steady supply of reasonably priced medical isotopes is essential. If medical isotopes become too expensive without the appropriate operational funds being transferred to the various hospitals and clinics, the effect would be the same as--