'Hope no one needs an MRI': Trump gets warning he may have sparked unexpected disaster

[LetMyPeopleVote]

trump did not think that Iran would block the Strait of Hormuz and expected Iran to surrender. One of the consequences of trump's stupidity is that we will be unable to do MRIs or build new superchips

'Hope no one needs an MRI': Trump gets warning he may have sparked unexpected disaster

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-03-24T19:00:17Z

https://www.rawstory.com/stringr/iran-war-2676612322/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=69c2df3dcd93a90001ffb380

Marc Johnson, a virologist and professor at the University of Missouri, revealed Monday that his institution’s supply of a critical medical resource will be “cut in half” as a result of the Trump administration’s war against Iran, and it carries potentially far-reaching consequences for medical facilities nationwide.

“I hope no one needs an MRI this year,” Johnson wrote in a social media post on X to their nearly 40,000 followers. “The world's largest producer of liquified helium is in Qatar and is shut off. We just got a notice that our supply for the year will be at least cut in half. No one could have predicted this (unless they thought about it).”

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which President Donald Trump initiated late last month by authorizing Operation Epic Fury, has predictably caused an oil shortage, sending energy prices skyrocketing. However, the war has also sparked a major shortage of helium, which plays a critical role in the function of MRI scanners thanks to its “extremely low boiling point.” Beyond imaging, helium also plays a role in other medical applications, including surgery and research.

“We got a notification from our gas supplier that they would be able to fulfill less than 50% of our regular consumption, and a message from the University hospital saying that this is particularly problematic for MRIs,” Johnson wrote in a separate social media post. “The helium shortage is real and there will be consequences.”

Link to tweet

[bbernardini]

1. As long as HE can still get one, he doesn't care. nt

[Ms. Toad]

4. He didn't have one in the first place.

What he had was a CT scan. He's just too ignorant to know the difference.

[Ms. Toad]

2. Great. My daughter has 4-5 months until her next MRI.

She has one every year for surveillance of disease progress and development of any of the half-dozen cancers her disease puts her at risk for..

[EarthFirst]

3. The half that's left will be reserved for the wealthy...

…they’ll be the only ones who will be able to afford it when MRI’s are increasingly deemed elective by healthcare providers.

The wealthy aren’t concerned…

The rest of us should very well be concerned.

[usedtobedemgurl]

12. I wonder if people will be trying to cross the borders to get one?

They will be using it for their own citizens, but I would have tried to find an out of the country solution when my husband had cancer and had monthly MRIs. I would have done anything for that man.

[Vinca]

5. How the hell can someone fuck up an MRI test? Leave it to Trump. He can kill anything.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Eh, he doesn't care.

He wants us all to croak anyway.

[malaise]

7. Put an arrogant ignoramus in charge and reap the whirlwind

The billionaires, racists, woman-hating Christian nationalists want it so. Watch them try and seize the state.
That is all

[twodogsbarking]

8. I nominate him for the Nobel Lobotomy Prize.

[mercuryblues]

9. That would be impossible.

He would need a brain, to begin with.

[twodogsbarking]

11. Anal surgery.

[HighFired49]

10. Misleading aticle

Maybe the helium field in Oklahoma Panhandle could supply some??? Third largest field in the world, first largest in the U.S. Look up Woodward helium and calm down.