Frustration - I've been involved in learning about the nuclear industry, reading and studying about the science and the effect upon human health.
In 1997, I had three patients with pancreatic cancer, the next year I had three – two of the first group had died, two more were diagnosed. The oncologist said that I had just run into a “cluster”. Over the following years I always had one victim whereas in the 1980’s, it was more likely 1 in 2 years. So I started to look into stuff like agricultural products and water quality.
I stumbled across research done on radioactive fallout in the 1960’s. They looked at the numbers of children surviving their first year of life and noticed that the numbers kept getting better (immunizations, antibiotics, health of mothers). Then the curve levels off. The point at which it flattens coincides with the first atmospheric tests and fallout. The difference was 400,000 dead babies.
Why did we not know this? The few scientists who were in the position to know this were threatened, muzzled, belittled, insulted, and trivialized – all the worst treatment that is aimed at whistleblowers by the more powerful.
We do know that radiation causes cancer – when we use it as a treatment, we are accepting a 8 – 16% increased risk of further cancers. Used in cardiac imaging, the risk of cancer as a result of such scans is 13%.
The atomic plumes from the tests of the 1960’s spread over the prairies. We know that solid cancers take between 30 and 40 years to form and that cesium-137 affects the pancreas. I’m not saying that my patients had pancreatic cancer as a result of fallout but I am asking, why could there not have been a connection?
This industry was born in secrecy and has continued to misrepresent itself. It lies, distorts radiation science and trivializes opposition. After fifty years of studying radiation and health and learning about the mining and all things nuclear, I’ve concluded that it may be the most fraudulent industry in human history.
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