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Fears of Nuclear War Lead to Increased Sales of Potassium Iodide

posted by Fnord666 on Saturday January 13 2018, @04:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the kneejerk-reaction dept.

takyon writes:

Potassium iodide distributors have a friend on Twitter:

A Twitter battle over the size of each "nuclear button" possessed by President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un has spiked sales of a drug that protects against radiation poisoning.

Troy Jones, who runs the website www.nukepills.com, said demand for potassium iodide soared last week, after Trump tweeted that he had a "much bigger & more powerful" button than Kim — a statement that raised new fears about an escalating threat of nuclear war. "On Jan. 2, I basically got in a month's supply of potassium iodide and I sold out in 48 hours," said Jones, 53, who is a top distributor of the drug in the United States. His Mooresville, N.C., firm sells all three types of the product approved by the Food and Drug Administration. No prescription is required.

In that two-day period, Jones said, he shipped about 140,000 doses of potassium iodide, also known as KI, which blocks the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine and protects against the risk of cancer. Without the tweet, he typically would have sent out about 8,400 doses to private individuals, he said. Jones also sells to government agencies, hospitals and universities, which aren't included in that count.

Alan Morris, president of the Williamsburg, Va.-based pharmaceutical firm Anbex Inc., which distributes potassium iodide, said he's seen a bump in demand, too. "We are a wonderful barometer of the level of anxiety in the country," said Morris.

Note: A comment on the article claims that Nukepills is massively overcharging for the substance.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:31PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:31PM (#621862)

    Idiots everywhere. If there is nuclear war, iodine is not what you have to worry about. What you have to worry about is 60 UV index, getting food and general conditions much worse than any "shit nations" of this world. Provided you do not live within 100km of any city with more than 50,000 people, in which case you will probably get evaporated or die from thermal burns and infection within days.

    Watch a movie, like The Day After or Threads from early 1980s of what a nuclear war would be like.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yif-5cKg1Yo [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:17PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:17PM (#621878)
    You're the idiot. North Korea doesn't have enough nukes and launch platforms to do anything like the "Day After" scenario on the USA.

    But if Trump goes crazy with his nukes (and drags Russia and China into a nuclear war) then yeah you might get the "Day After" scenario.

    In which case close to half of the US voters deserve what they're getting.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:42PM (#622232)

      You're the idiot.

      Good retort. NOT. Iodine is not what nuclear weapons produce much off. Hence idiots buying shit that will literally will be used to harm themselves... quoting RT for "real news" for a change.

      https://www.rt.com/news/415797-nuclear-trump-north-korea-iodine/ [rt.com]