U.S. service members exposed to radiation Tuesday being treated with potassium iodide UPDATE: Buying Iodide a "Precaution" says U.S. Surgeon General UPDATE: Potassium Iodide Panic Buying in U.S. Radiation Fallout Fears from Japan Nuclear Meltdown.

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Navy Visual News Service (NVNS) via AP

An HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter lifts off Sunday, March 13, 2011 from the guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) after refueling. The helicopter is conducting a search of debris fields in the waters near Sendai, Japan.

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U.S. Navy Detects Radiation 200 Miles From Japan Nuclear Plant

March 15, 2011

NewsCore

Fox News has confirmed that a small number of U.S. service members have been exposed to radiation Tuesday and are being treated with potassium iodide pills. A U.S. military official says the risk is manageable. 

YOKOSUKA, Japan -- The U.S. Navy said Tuesday that very low levels of airborne radiation were detected at Yokosuka and Atsugi bases, about 200 miles to the north of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

"While there was no danger to the public, Commander, Naval Forces Japan recommended limited precautionary measures for personnel and their families on Fleet Activities Yokosuka and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, including limiting outdoor activities and securing external ventilation systems as much as practical," a statement said.

"These measures are strictly precautionary in nature. We do not expect that any United States Federal radiation exposure limits will be exceeded even if no precautionary measures are taken," it added.

Fox News has confirmed that a small number of U.S. service members have been exposed to radiation Tuesday and are being treated with potassium iodide pills. A U.S. military official says the risk is manageable. 

The U.S. military confirmed Tuesday that several Navy ships, including the carrier USS Ronald Reagan, had moved closer to the Japanese coast, after pulling away Monday due to concerns radioactive material was being blown toward the fleet. They are now operating north of Sendai, which is upwind of Fukushima.

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Surgeon General: Buying Iodide a "Precaution"
Conflicting messages appear in the effort to buy iodide tablets

By LORI PREUITT
Tue, Mar 15, 2011

The fear that a nuclear cloud could float from the shores of Japan to the shores of California has some people making a run on iodine tablets. Pharmacists across California report being flooded with requests.

State and county officials spent much of Tuesday trying to keep people calm by saying that getting the pills wasn't necessary, but then the United States surgeon general supported the idea as a worthy "precaution."

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin was in the Bay Area touring a peninsula hospital. NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo asked her about the run on tablets and Dr. Benjamin said although she wasn't aware of people stocking up, she did not think that would be an overreaction. She said it was right to be prepared.

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Pharmacies in West coast states are being inundated with phone calls from people asking for potassium iodide, a drug commonly used to treat low-level radiation exposure

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U.S. Drug Stores Report Sudden Increase in Potassium Iodide Sales

Published March 15, 2011

FoxNews.com

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One drug supplier says it has sold 250,000 anti-radiation pills to people in the U.S. concerned about possible exposure from Japanese nuclear reactors.

Troy Jones, president of Nukepills.com, said his company sold out over the weekend of potassium iodide pills, which prevent against radiation poisoning of the thyroid gland. Jones, in an interview with FoxNews.com, said that the pills were sold to dozens of U.S. pharmacies, corporations, hospitals and nuclear labs.

"You name it," he said.

Jones said that he has back-ordered more than a million tablets and is expected to get another 10,000 of the liquid potassium iodine. He also said that he has donated about 50,000 pills to Japan, many of them going to a hospital in Tokyo. 

Despite assurances from health officials that Americans are not at risk from Japanese nuclear reactors, U.S. drug stores are reporting a sudden increase in sales of the over-the-counter anti-radiation pills.

Potassium iodide pills are reportedly flying off the shelves at drug stores in at least three West Coast states -- Oregon, California and Hawaii -- according to several local press accounts.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that one Virginia-based supplier, Anbex Inc., sold out of its entire supply of 10,000 14-tablet packages on Saturday.

Alan Morris, president of the company, reportedly said that the supplier is receiving about three orders a minute for $10 packages of its Iosat pills.

"Those who don't get it are crying. They're terrified," Morris told the newspaper.

U.S. health officials have said that dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant in Japan pose little or no risk to people on the U.S. West Coast. But the reassurances have not stopped worried Americans from clearing out potassium iodide supplies at drug stores in Hawaii, Oregon and California.

Stores in Eugene, Ore., for example, have reported a sudden spike in sales of the pill. Janell Davis, vitamin manager at Sundance Natural Foods, told the Register-Guard that the store was sold out of the tablets by Saturday afternoon. In Redding, Calif., some store owners say they can't stock their shelves fast enough with the tablets.

“As soon as we found out people were calling and coming in and emptying our shelves this morning, I called my boss and she told me to go ahead and order a bunch," Jan Gertner, who works at Whitney's Vitamin and Herb Shop, told krcrtv.com.

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from the Wall Street Journal 

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from The Register Guard

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from krcrtv.com 

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