The U.S. appears to have suffered about 14,000 excess deaths in the period after the Japanese Fukushima nuclear plant was severely damaged, researchers said. The finding…based on CDC data on deaths in a set of U.S. cities from March 20 to June 25 -- a 14-week period starting after the radioactivity released from the reactor on March 11 has reached the U.S., according to Joseph Mangano, MPH, of the non-profit Radiation and Public Health Project, based on Ocean City, N.J., and author Janette Sherman, MD…On the contrary, any link between the deaths and the radiation released by the reactors is "very, very unlikely" simply because the levels are low, according to Richard Morin, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

MedPage Today, by Michael Smith, 12/2011

Tags: International, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville