The Dental Council is threatening to renew moves against the new Radiation and Nuclear Regulation Act, saying draft amendments to the law have not been deliberated by the National Legislative Assembly since the draft was approved by the cabinet five months ago.
The council along with other affected health personnel want this issue resolved as soon as possible. However, they say they will renew their protest action if progress on the matter is not forthcoming, said Paisal Kangwalkij, president of the council.
Dentists across the country have been up in arms after the new law requires every dental clinic to hire a special radiology expert to control dental X-ray machines.
They say the curbs are not needed as the risk to patients and staff who work with such equipment is negligible.
The law mandates violators can face up to five years in jail or a 500,000 baht fine.
As radioactive tools must now be registered with the Ministry of Science and Technology, critics complain of “overlapping regulations” that may complicate the work of dentists and eventually undermine the level of treatment they can offer patients.
They want Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who chairs the Commission on Nuclear Energy for Peace, to issue a ministerial regulation exempting dental X-ray devices from the new regulation.
A group of 41 NLA members responded to the dentists' protest by proposing the draft amendments to the law, which the NLA accepted for consideration.
They also forwarded a copy of the draft to the cabinet for consideration, Mr Paisal said.
The cabinet agreed in principle to the draft on May 22, he said.
“It’s been more than five months now and it remains uncertain as to when the NLA will begin deliberating it,” he said.
If the draft isn’t passed under this NLA, it will have to wait until the new government proposes it to parliament, he said.
In that case, community hospitals and dental clinics might have to stop operating their X-ray machines entirely for the time being, which will affect them and may spark new protests, he said.
If matters surrounding the Radiation and Nuclear Regulation Act are left unresolved this way, community hospitals nationwide will have to stop offering their X-ray services to patients across the country, said Soralak Mingthaisong, president of the club of directors of community hospitals.
He urged the government to speed up resolving the problem and ensure the problem is fixed before it leaves office after the expected general election.
