Radioiodine therapy must be hospitalized in hospital

The radioiodine therapy must be performed in a hospital in order to be able to dispose of the radioactive excretions of the patients specifically. Otherwise they could get into public wastewater and endanger the general public. The Dresden Social Court had to decide in one case (file reference: S 47 KR 439/12), in which a health insurance company refused to cover the costs of hospitalization for a patient. Wrong, so the court verdict. The costs should not be passed on to the federal states. About the verdict reports the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialrecht of the Deutscher Anwaltverein (DAV).

Costs for radioiodine therapy must be completely covered by the health insurance companies
In the case under negotiation, a 77-year-old female patient suffered from a thyroid disorder. Her treatment took place with radioiodine therapy at the University Hospital Dresden. The woman had to swallow a capsule of radioactive iodine. After 24 hours, about 50 percent of the iodine is stored by the thyroid and irradiate the malignant disease. The remaining radioactive material is excreted via the kidneys. According to the Radiation Protection Ordinance, treatment must be performed at a nuclear medicine ward during a 48-hour inpatient stay in order to collect and dispose of the radioactive waste separately. Otherwise they would get into the public sewage and burden the general public.

Despite this rule, the commercial health insurance company refused to pay the hospital for the hospital stay (about 2,800 euros) from the patient. In their view, the therapy is limited to the administration of the iodine capsule, since the hospital stay only serves to avert danger for the general public. However, these are costs that would have to be borne by the states, presented the cash.

However, the Social Court of Dresden did not follow the line of reasoning and condemned the health insurance company to pay the full amount for the treatment costs. Hospitalization is inseparably linked to radioiodine therapy by law, so it can not be considered primarily as a security measure. (Ag)