Sanctions halt vital cancer scans in Russia’s Far East, patients sent to Moscow
Cancer patients in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Region are facing a shortage of vital scans due to halted supplies of radiopharmaceuticals, a result of Western sanctions. Over 120 oncology patients have been referred to medical centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk for positron emission tomography (PET) scans, according to the regional health ministry.
Despite humanitarian goods being exempt from sanctions, financial and logistical issues have disrupted the supply of critical medicines and medical equipment. The Khabarovsk Regional Oncology Center has suspended PET scans because it can no longer obtain fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), a radiopharmaceutical used for early cancer detection. GE HealthCare Pharma, the supplier, has stopped deliveries, citing delays due to sanctions, with shipments now expected by August 2025.
