As FMTVDM Continued to Move Forward - Following Multiple Presentations at the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Medical (SNMMI) Conferences -
the Medical Community Became Increasingly Aware of the Benefits of FMTVDM, including
(1) Reducing radiation dose,
(2) Reducing the time required to image patients,
(3) the Ability to Measure and Differentiate what was happening inside the person being imaged, and
(4) perhaps most importantly - for those who recognized that FMTVDM was not flawed with the Qualitative Image problems of Sensitivity & Specificity - the ability to Finally be able to determine if Treatments were working. Saving time, money and lives.
Two of the physicians most closely involved with my work on FMTVDM included
1) Dr. William C. Dooley who developed and wrote the protocol for breast cancer at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Dooley is now
G. Rainey Williams Professor of Surgical Oncology
The OU Breast Institute and Department of Surgery
Surgical Oncology, The Stephenson Cancer Center
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Past President , Oklahoma Society of Clinical Oncology
Member representing Fellowship, Surveyor, State Chair, and
OUMC CLP to Commission on Cancer
and
2) Dr. Iraj Khalkhali who pioneered the resting approach for nuclear imaging of breast tissue - which he named Miraluma. Dr. Khalkhali was in charge of training medical residents at UCLA - Harbor Medical. It was with his encouragement that I first moved to Los Angeles to continue my work on FMTVDM.
When Dr. Khalkhali and others first tried to bill for breast cancer imaging using Sestamibi, they were told by the insurance companies - including CMS who accused me of billing fraud - that Sestamibi was a heart test not a breast cancer test. So, they changed the name to Miraluma and CMS and other insurance companies said OK and paid. [By changing the name to Miraluma it was no longer fraud and they billing claims were paid!]
When I first met Dr. Khalkhali, Dr. Dooley and I were presenting FMTVDM-BEST research at the 2001SNM Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
After listening to the hour long presentation,
Dr. Khalkhali introduced himself to me and said "My God, I knew there was a way, I just didn't know how!"
That was quite the introduction to a man who later become a friend and colleague. Dr. Khalkhali died 11 October 2018 from acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) - a form of cancer.
In preparation for release of FMTVDM, following the issuance of the FMTVDM patent in 2017, both of these men who had dedicated their lives to treating women - and men - with breast cancer - released these statements of endorsement.
