Prussian Blue for Treatment of Thallium Overdose in the US

Abstract

Thallium is a metal that throughout the past century has been found useful in a wide variety of ways. Thallium has been used medicinally to treat ringworm (tinea), as a rodenticide, and is found naturally in many varieties of rock. Thallium poisoning in the US has become uncommon, as its household uses have vanished. Thallium is still used in certain commercial and research areas such as nuclear medicine studies and gamma radiation detection equipment; it is also being researched for development of high-temperature superconducting materials for applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic energy storage. Therefore, thallium is still available in certain workplaces, and poisonings in the US still occur. Prussian blue (Radiogardase), a useful antidote for treating thallium poisoning, was FDA approved in 2003 but is still difficult to obtain for pharmaceutical use in the US. Furthermore, methods for obtaining prussian blue are not well known to physicians, pharmacists, and poison center personnel. We describe successful treatment of a thallium overdose with prussian blue that was rapidly obtained from within the US and further discuss methods for obtaining prussian blue in the US.