IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa Hospitals is the first and only clinic in the state to offer care to patients with suffering from exposure to heavy metals, pesticides, industrial chemicals and more. It opened a few weeks ago and offers a more targeted approach when diagnosing patients. This approach doesn't require a variety of tests and therefore will use less hospital resources and won't cause as much stress to patients. Another benefit is that officials say it can also be more cost-effective.
Before 2016, there was only one toxicologist in the entire Hawkeye State. Dr. Daniel McCabe, MD, a Burlington, Iowa native and the director of the Division of Medical Toxicology at The University of Iowa Hospitals says he's excited to see how this clinic can help improve patient outcomes in the Midwest.
"A lot of what we see are cases that are rare for primary care providers. Different types of heavy metal exposures, tests that are pretty rare they need someone to interpret. Patients are scared, they want a sub-specialist to explain where this may be coming from, what treatment options may be, what may or may not effect their health," McCabe said. "We want to be a resource to providers and patients in these times of rare poisonings that for toxicologists, aren't that rare."
Iowa Health Care says if you think you may be a candidate for the clinic, consult with your primary care doctor first. Currently, the clinic is only seeing patients by referral and is open every other Wednesday.
Tune into The Current from 4 to 5 p.m. on weekdays to catch live interviews impacting you, your family and your hometown as well as all of the biggest headlines of the day.