massive white elephant and a huge drain on the health care budget, it was claimed yesterday.

And the proposed purchase has caused a split in the medical profession, with a minority of doctors pushing for the new machine.

One doctor said it would be twice as expensive to treat patients with Bermuda's own machine than sending them abroad to the US.

It is understood the Bermuda Medical Society has already written to the Hospitals Board giving the thumbs down to the machine, which gives better images than X-rays by using magnetic impulses rather than radiation.

One doctor said: "They are a wonderful piece of equipment and they give us wonderful imaging.

"But for the few times we need it here, when we can get a very good service in North America, our health care dollars could be better spent elsewhere.'' And he suggested the hospital was keen to acquire one of the MRI machines as a money-spinner for the cash-strapped health care system.

He added: "If we did have one here, there would be huge pressure to use it more and more.

"But the fact is it's much cheaper to get it done in Boston than do it here.'' Gerald Simons, president of Argus, the Island's biggest provider of employment health insurance, said he was unsure where the pressure to bring in an MRI came from.

He added the firm estimated between 150 and 250 patients a year travelled overseas for MRI scanning under insurance cover -- although he said the number who paid for the treatment themselves was unknown.

Mr. Simons said: "It's almost certain the total number is less than 500 a year, although we don't have hard and fast figures.'' He added that provision of new medical facilities was "not a simple decision.'' And he pointed out that Argus had been calling for a new body involving the medical profession, insurers, hospitals, the Health Ministry and the Finance Ministry to examine issues like an MRI machine for more than a decade.

The Royal Gazette understands, however, that -- despite the views of the medical profession -- the Hospitals Board is considering several deals to acquire an MRI, including lease arrangements and a partnership proposal.

One of the proposals understood to have been looked at is from Boston's Lahey Clinic, which has a close working relationship with Transport Minister Dr.

Ewart Brown's Paget medical practice.

The white-elephant claim came after it was revealed last year that a study into buying a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine (MRI) was underway.

The MRI is used to detect disease and abnormalities, especially in soft tissue like the brain, organs or joints and gives better images than X-rays without a dose of radiation.

But one drawback is the machine takes much longer to come up with a usable image -- meaning some patients, especially children, need to be knocked out while being examined.

Bermuda Medical Society president Dr. Andrew West confirmed the powerful group had made it views known to the Hospitals Board -- but stayed tight-lipped over the contents.

But he added: "I have not had any discussions personally with the Hospitals Board or the hospital authorities.

"But we decided we should give our opinions to these authorities, which we did.

"And it would be fair to say that pressure for this is not coming from the local medical community.'' Inquiries overseas by The Royal Gazette revealed that Britain has 192 MRIs -- around one per two million people, while Canada has one per 2.5 million.

A UK source said that the machines, depending on their sophistication, cost between $900,000 and $3.3 million.

He added the US has one MRI per 500,000 people -- but the US is regarded in Britain as "technically overloaded'', although it is accepted that the UK needs more of the machines.

He said, however: "The start-up costs are quite large -- they have a very big magnet in there -- and development of buildings and staffing can double that original cost.

"You would also create a staff to fully utilise the scanner -- most require three people, including a medical physicist.'' Concern over running costs was echoed by on-Island medical professionals.

Another doctor predicted: "The upkeep is almost the same per annum as the cost of buying it in the first place.'' A spokeswoman for the King Edward yesterday said that the hospital had put out feelers to overseas suppliers, but she stressed that inquiries were "at an early stage.'' She added the hospital had a team working on issues of cost and usefulness compared to an overseas provider for some time and that no final decision had been made.

And she said: "There is tremendous pressure externally to investigate at least whether it's a good idea to have an MRI machine.'' HEALTH HTH