Peter Burg interviewed by Denver News channel about NSF
Denver Channel 7 News reported recently on the little known disease Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis. In an interview attorney Peter Burg informed the news station that the medical profession believes the disease is caused by a contrasting dye used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) procedures on people with kidney disease. "It is the most awful disease that I have ever seen in my life," said Burg, who is representing close to 100 clients who are suing the manufacturers of gadolinium. "And what makes it doubly awful is that it was manmade." Greta Carolus of Loveland, Colorado is one of his clients. In August 2006 while preparing for a kidney transplant, Carolus underwent an MRI using the contrasting dye, gadolinium. Gadolinium is used to improve the quality of the picture in an MRI. Four days later she was hospitalized and learned she had contracted NSF. The lesions and hardening of her skin was caused by gadolinium exposure and put Carolus in a wheelchair. "I am a registered nurse, but I have not worked since the day this happened," said Carolus. "I wouldn’t wish this on anybody; my worst enemy I wouldn’t wish it on. This is just a terrible disease." In people with healthy kidneys, gadolinium has been proven safe. It is believed that the chemicals surrounding the gadolinium make it safe for use in the human body, but sometimes breakdown. In patients with ill-functioning kidneys, the gadolinium cannot be expelled properly thus exposing the patients to the dye for an extended period of time. “When I found out it was the dye it was devastating because it was something that didn't need to happen,” said Carolus. According to Carolus’ attorney, Peter Burg, the 5 companies that manufacture gadolinium contrast knew they were toxic to patients with kidney insufficiency. “They knew how toxic it was, they may not have known the specific harm that was going to be caused but they knew the results were likely to be catastrophic,” said Burg.
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