Re: First Radiation Victim

[Muckerheide <muckerheide@attbi.com>]

Great Mike!



This is close if not the first case (though sounds like the "first case"

from a lawyer's perspective :-). With all of the high doses "demonstrating"

x-rays in 1896 (after a few months when the electrical engineers were making

much stronger tubes than Roentgen's machines and others in the beginning),

it seems very likely the "first" was in 1896, but not as likely it was the

kind of medical application you describe here.



It's depressing how much misinformation passes for "knowledge" here with no

info or investigation of the time. Even major uses like dial painting were

killing people in the 'teens, much less the early individual high-exposure

cases/accidents. The very idea that it could be after 1987, and

mind-boggling that it could be in the '20s, is indicative of the pervasive

lack of info about radiation in the profession.  The use of "Stannard" and

such sources fail to understand the motivation and bias that pervades the

post-WW II, esp. the '50s-forward radiation establishment, political

story-telling with no serious historical vantage point, with $millions in

AEC/DOE for making it up, but not a few $1000 to get the data from the

limited sources of the time.



Congratulations!

Regards, Jim Muckerheide



on 10/25/02 4:38 PM, Michael J Vala at michael.vala@bms.com wrote:



> Radsafers -

> 

> According to The CRC Handbook of Management of Radiation

> Protection Programs (1986), the Radiation Litigation Chapter

> edited by Vicent Collins cites the death of James Punzo in 1897.

> 

> Apparently Punzo was victim of a gunshot to the head.  Three

> weeks after the injury, when Mr. Punzo was healed and walking

> around the hospital, a 35 minute xray with a crooks tube attached

> to a Holtz Static Generator was taken under anesthesia to try to

> find the bullet.  The bullet was not found.  Mr. Punzo remained

> semi-comatose until he died 12 days later.

> 

> Have a good weekend,

> 

> Mike Vala

> 

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