MRI danger for Teva patch and others

Certain adhesive patches that deliver medication through the skin have been found to be a risk to patient safety if worn while undergoing  magnetic resonance imaging scans, says the US Food and Drug  Administration.

The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory statement on transdermal drug  patches after learning that a warning was missing on some that contain  aluminium or other metals in their non-adhesive backing. While not  attracted to the magnetic field of the MRI itself, the metal can conduct  electricity, generating heat which can cause burns at the patch site.

"The risk of using a metallic patch during an MRI has been  well-established, but the FDA recently discovered that not all  manufacturers include a safety warning with their patches," said Janet  Woodcock, Director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.  The agency was alerted to a missing MRI warning on Israeli generics  major Teva Pharmaceutical's fentanyl transdermal system in January. The  FDA investigated and found that a similar warning was also missing on a  variety of transdermal patches delivering medications.