[ RadSafe ] Hospital workers subjected to excessive radiation, lawsuits claim

[Perle, Sandy]

Thanks for posting this Susan. I did post to my Linkedin Personal and
Environmental Monitoring Dosimetry Group, along with another follow-up
article. I did not post to Radsafe though, so I am happy that you did. If
anyone wants to join my Group, please do so. The Group does require
approval after Request is submitted, to protect the integrity of the group
and eliminate Spamming as is often the case with other Linkedin Groups.

Regards,

Sandy

-----------------------------------
Sander C. Perle 
President
Mirion Technologies
Dosimetry Services Division
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614
 
+1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)
+1 (949) 296-1130 (Fax)
 
Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/



>________________________________
>From: S L Gawarecki <slgawarecki at gmail.com>
>To: RadSafe <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
>Sent: Monday, January 20, 2014 10:23 AM
>Subject: [ RadSafe ] Hospital workers subjected to excessive radiation,
>lawsuits claim
>
>
>Hospital workers subjected to excessive radiation, lawsuits claim
>
>OAK RIDGE ‹ Hospital technologists were exposed to excessive radiation at
>Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, five lawsuits filed this week
>allege.
>
>A wall between the CT scan room and the control room in the hospital¹s new
>Emergency Department area lacked a lead-lined barrier to stop the
>radiation, according to the Anderson County Circuit Court complaints.
>
>Computer tomography, or CT scans, involve computer-processed X-rays that
>are used to diagnose ailments.
>
>CT scans are ³exponentially more powerful² than conventional X-rays, said
>Clinton attorney John Agee, who filed the lawsuits.
>
>Technologists in the control room behind the wall that lacked lead lining
>were repeatedly exposed to scatter radiation, Agee said.
>
>Excessive radiation exposure can lead to cancer.
>
>Several of those technologists now have symptoms ³that would be compatible
>with radiation exposure,² the attorney said.
>
>They will now have to take regular health screens for cancer, he said.
>Some
>symptoms of excessive radiation exposure take years to develop, Agee said.
>
>He said family members waiting in a nearby room for relatives undergoing
>CT
>scans may also have been exposed to the scatter radiation.
>
>³There¹s a difference between 40 exposures in a shift,² Agee said of the
>technologists¹ situations, ³as opposed to one.²
>
>Agee said it¹s ³most likely that another 10 lawsuits are going to be
>filed,² with most of them on behalf of current and former X-ray and
>radiologic technologists.
>
>Two of the first five plaintiffs are women who were pregnant at the time
>of
>their alleged exposures. At least one child born after the exposures ³is
>suffering from a severe illness,² said Agee¹s wife, Clinton attorney Lea
>Ellen RidenourAgee.
>
>³The whole thing is just heartbreaking,² she said.
>
>John Agee said that after it was discovered last month that lead lining
>was
>missing from the wall, ³not a whole lot of information has been
>voluntarily
>given to these people, and they¹re obviously concerned about their
>health.²
>
>³I hate it for these people,² he said. ³To me it¹s hard to understand why
>it happened.²
>
>Named as defendants in the initial lawsuits, filed Monday, are Covenant
>Health of Knoxville, which operates Methodist Medical Center, Rentenbach
>Constructors Inc. of Knoxville, the contractor that built the hospital¹s
>new emergency department that opened in February 2006, and TEG Architects
>LLC, the Jeffersonville, Ind., firm that designed the project.
>
>Hospital spokeswoman Crystal D. Jordan said Methodist Medical Center
>strongly refutes the accusations.
>
>³We maintain an active and ongoing radiation quality and compliance
>program
>with specific procedures to monitor safety.
>
>³Base on the results of this program, it has been verified that we have
>met
>all safety standards for radiation exposure,² Jordan stated in an email.
>
>John Agee said concerns began emerging when X-rays stored in a room next
>to
>the CT scanning Room ³became cloudy from scatter radiation.²
>
>Lea Ellen Agee said technologists ³attempted to take an X-ray through the
>wall, and were successful.²
>
>An employee of General Electric ³came in and took some measurements in
>some
>adjoining rooms,² John Agee said, ³and conveyed to Methodist there was a
>problem.²
>
>Lea Ellen Agee said the suspect wall was torn down in December, and the
>lack of lead lining was confirmed then.
>
>John Agee said a former radiological technologist at Methodist Medical
>Center, Clinton resident Mike Phillips, told him about the situation.
>
>Phillips is one of the first five plaintiffs, along with two current
>radiological technologists, Keith Gillis of Knoxville and Mary Ridenour of
>Andersonville, who was pregnant at the time she was subjected to the
>scatter radiation.
>
>Also filing suit were current X-ray technologists Connie Raby of Clinton
>and Micah Noelle Lewellen of Knoxville, who also allegedly received
>excessive radiation throughout her pregnancy.
>
>Phillips and Raby in their lawsuits allege they have had ³thyroid
>problems,
>headaches, trouble sleeping and other problems. ³
>
>Gillis has had seizures and memory loss, while Lewellen has ³significant
>medical problems, according to their complaints.
>
>The lawsuits state the defendants failed to have qualified personnel check
>on the installation of lead barriers, and that federal and state standards
>about radiation exposure were violated.
>
>The complaints seek compensatory and punitive damages, but no specific
>amounts are listed.
>http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2014/jan/17/hospital-workers-subjected-to-exc
>essive-lawsuits/
>
>Regards,
>*Susan Gawarecki*
>
>ph: 865-494-0102
>cell:  865-604-3724
>SLGawarecki at gmail.com
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