Man might get 18 months in prison for X-raying without a license

["Edward Soudentas" <ESoudentas@chpnet.org>]

NEW YORK TIMES

February 27, 2004

Men Illegally Performed X-Rays to Test Machines, Officials Say

By YANIV GAFNER



NEWARK, Feb. 26 - A father and son who worked for a New Jersey company that manufactures X-ray machines have been charged with improperly exposing 11 people, including a 19-year-old woman who was X-rayed about 50 times, to unnecessary radiation while testing a new X-ray machine, the authorities said yesterday.

The men, Andrew Telymonde, 60, and Timothy Telymonde, 37, performed more than 100 X-rays on 11 people from November 2000 to April 2003, while testing a new digital X-ray machine for the company, Cares Built Inc. of Keyport, N.J., said John R. Hagerty, a spokesman for Attorney General Peter C. Harvey.

Among those who the authorities said were exposed to radiation during the tests were a 3-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy and a homeless person. The Telymondes are also charged with failing to provide adequate protection, like lead vests, to employees who used the X-ray machine.

The Telymondes were charged with criminal offenses and violations of state environmental regulations. Timothy Telymonde, of Keyport, the former president and chief executive of the company, pleaded guilty on Feb. 17 to the criminal charge of unlawful exposure of unnecessary radiation and unlawful X-raying without a license in State Superior Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2. Calls to the Cares Built office went unanswered.

Andrew Telymonde, a consultant with Cares Built who lives in Lakewood, N.J., was charged with three counts of unlawful exposure of unnecessary radiation and unlawful X-raying without a license. He is expected to appear in court in the next few weeks.

Mr. Hagerty said that an anonymous telephone complaint to the Department of Environmental Protection led to the investigation of the Telymondes. Investigators said that the pair had encouraged and often paid their employees and others to undergo X-rays, Mr. Hagerty said.

Neither man was licensed to perform X-rays, and the company was not permitted to perform X-rays unless ordered by a physician. The Telymondes were the first people charged under the state's recently enacted radiation protection laws. 

The authorities also said that the X-ray unit was not registered with the Department of Environmental Protection and that Cares Built had put the health of its employees at risk by not recording their radiation exposure levels. 

The criminal charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The regulatory penalties total $724,900, of which Timothy Telymonde is responsible for about $86,000. 

 



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