Radiation Officer Charged With Fraud

["Ansari, Armin" <ASA4@cdc.gov>]

In case you haven't already seen this:





http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Radiation-Officer.html



July 22, 2004

Radiation Officer Charged With Fraud

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Filed at 11:56 p.m. ET



CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A safety consultant with phony credentials

improperly inspected mammography machines and other diagnostic equipment

at East Coast hospitals for 15 years, federal prosecutors said Thursday.



But a review of Perry Beale's work at more than 50 hospitals and medical

centers found there were enough checks in the system to have prevented

the machines from endangering anyone, officials said.



``Based on current information, Mr. Beale's activities posed no health

risk to mammography patients,'' said Dr. Charles Finder, associate

director of the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Mammography

Quality and Radiation Programs. ``Therefore these patients do not need

to take any action as a result.''



Beale, of Fredericksburg, was charged with 38 counts of mail fraud after

federal investigators discovered he falsified inspection reports and

miscalibrated radiation equipment while working as a private consultant

in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and

Washington, D.C.



Beale, who was suspended by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in

2002, claimed on a resume that he was certified by the American Board of

Radiology and that he had a master's degree from the University of

Virginia in radiologic technology, nuclear medicine and radiological

physics.



Authorities said that when Beale was confronted, he acknowledged he

didn't have any of those credentials.



Beale turned himself in to authorities Thursday and was released on a

$25,000 bond. His lawyer Richard Milnor did not return a phone call to

his office seeking comment.



Prosecutors said Beale began working in 1988 as an apprentice to a

medical physicist and radiation safety officer in Maryland. When his

mentor died two years later, Beale continued working on his own.



Beale's story began unraveling in 2001 when the NRC, which regulates the

use of radioactive materials, noticed problems with his work and took a

closer look at data at several hospitals.



The agency concluded that Beale had faked tests used to determine

unhealthy radiation levels in hospital rooms in the event of a spill of

the radioactive gas xenon, which is used to create images of lungs.



U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said facilities where Beale worked

included the George Washington University Medical Center, Georgetown

University Radiology Associates in Washington, D.C., and the Central

Intelligence Agency Office of Medical Services in Langley, Va.



FDA's Finder emphasized that after safety officers like Beale inspect

the radiation dosages, FDA inspectors and an accreditation body follow

with their own check.



He conceded that these subsequent checks would not have stopped someone

from suffering an inordinate amount of radiation because of Beale's

faulty inspections, ``but in this case it didn't happen.''



The U.S. Attorney's Office said anyone with questions about whether they

underwent testing on a machine inspected by Beale can call a toll-free

number, (866) 737-0710, for more information.



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Associated Press writer Stephanie Stoughton contributed to this report.