Government health officials warns the public that nicotine or other drug patches poses risk for burns to patients who want to go for an MRI scan. They found out that these patches contain minute metal elements that can be heated up by the big magnet of the MRI.

Some of the patches were found to contain aluminum which can cause overheating and burns during an MRI procedure. Recently, there were five recorded incidents of burns during MRI scanning where patients incurred bad sunburn like insult to the skin.

Only a fraction of the patch burning incidents are alarming but the public is warned that there are 20 drug patches marketed in the United States that contain metal fragments.

Experts suggest that people using the drug patches must read the label or the box prior to getting an MRI. The boxes of these drug patches do not warn patients of their contents. Only a small percentage of patients using them read the small prints prior to use.

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