Mallinckrodt safety record

[GlennACarlson@aol.com]

http://www.stlnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/ByDocID/DF76CCCF63CF2C93862568F70035
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Posted: Wednesday, June 7, 2000 | 5:01 a.m.

Mallinckrodt safety record
Compiled By Virginia Baldwin Gilbert of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Mallinckrodt incidents investigated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

* Dec. 31, 1996: Mallinckrodt's Maryland Heights plant ships a generator to 
Saginaw, Mich., with surface radiation levels of 210 millirems per hour, 10 
millirems over the maximum allowed. The NRC scolds Mallinckrodt for not 
finding the root cause of the contamination, calling it a "significant 
concern to the NRC."

Status: Mallinckrodt paid a fine of $13,750.

* May 14-15, 1997: An employee doing cleanup work receives a shallow dose 
exposure of 480 rads to his left thumb. The exposure is suspected to have 
occurred when the worker handled contaminated materials with a faulty glove. 
The exposed employee's contamination is discovered when he returns to work. 
He had carried contamination out of the building and into his home because he 
failed to properly survey himself before leaving the day before. The worker's 
vehicle and items in is home are found to be contaminated and are removed.

Status: Mallinckrodt paid a fine of $27,500.

* May 29, 1997: Hospital in Darby, Pa., receives a package from a 
Mallinckrodt Pharmacy in Folcroft,Pa., that developed excess radiation levels 
during transport.

Status: Mallinckrodt paid a fine of $27,500, which was doubled because it was 
a repeat violation.

* July 8, 1997: Two packages exceeding radiation limits are sent, one to 
Pinebrook, N.J., (250millirem/hr) and one to Folcroft, Pa., (240 millirem/hr).

Status: Mallinckrodt paid a fine of $27,500.

* Oct. 10, 1997: A hospital in Detroit accidentally ships back to 
Mallinckrodt an empty contaminatedcontainer.

Status: Mallinckrodt was found not at fault and was assessed no fine.

* Nov. 17, 1999: Xenon 133, a radioactive gas used in lung imaging, is 
released into the process room. Five workers breath the gas into their lungs, 
and a small amount of the gas is vented into the outside air. Mallinckrodt 
waits 50 hours before reporting the incident. The NRC says Mallinckrodt's 
response to the release is appropriate but finds the company in violation of 
regulations requiring it to report the event within one hour.

Status: Mallinckrodt was assessed no fine but was put on "escalated 
enforcement."

* March 31, 2000: A ring monitor on a worker's finger shows a higher than 
usual radiation exposure.  A company investigation discovers the worker 
handled radioactive material with a gloved hand and suffered an over-exposure 
40 times the annual limit.

Status: Investigation pending. The event causes the company to survey other 
departments where ring monitors are used, thus uncovering dozens of possible 
exposures. The company notifies the NRC, which is investigating. So far, 
investigators have found 14 other workers in Mallinckrodt's plant had been 
exposed since 1995 to radiation exceeding the annual 50-rem limit.

Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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