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 Epstein war, and it may carry 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 Trump initiated late last month as a solution to mounting outrage over the Epstein files, 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.”
FYI, Qatar supplies a third of the world’s helium.
