Cardinal Health warns clients of isotope shortage

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cardinal Health Inc warned customers it was "critically short" of a medical isotope used in nuclear imaging tests to check for heart disease or see if cancer has spread.

In a July 7 letter to customers obtained by Reuters, the company's Nuclear Pharmacy Services unit in New York warned that on July 7-8 it would experience "the most significant shortage we have seen to date."

Nick Tucker, a supervisor in the Bronx, New York unit confirmed the shortage, which stems from the May 17 shutdown of a nuclear reactor in Canada that produces a third of the world's medical isotope supply.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Leslie Gevirtz)