U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 01:41PM The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills to U.S. citizens this week in what appears to be a word-of-mouth operation.
A handful of Americans waited for the pills Friday at the U.S.-military-operated New Sanno Hotel, in Tokyo’s upscale Hiroo neighborhood. One person in line said he heard about the offer from a contact two friends removed who works at the Tokyo embassy. Another recipient said he found out about the program through a connection in the military and through an email from a private club that counts some of the capital’s most elite expats among its members.
They shared those details with an embassy official, who asked recipients to write how they heard about the distribution on a waiver that acknowledges they received seven free potassium iodide pills from the U.S. State Department.
The embassy said on Tuesday it would provide the tablets, known as KI pills, to its staff and their families in Japan as a precautionary measure against possible radiation exposure in light of the conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The offer did not, however, extend to private citizens. Instead, the embassy advised them to contact their doctor or employer.
That notice has not been updated since the March 22 release on the embassy website. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo declined to comment, instead referring questions about the discrepancy to the State Department, which did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
David Spector, an American and longtime Japan resident who often appears on local news programs, decided to pick up the pills after receiving an email from the Tokyo American Club and a member of the U.S. military.
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