The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating more than 300 cases of radiation overdoses that occurred in California and Alabama hospitals, but may be a nationwide problem. Medical experts say that some patients may have received thousands of times the radiation used in normal chest x-ray.
The FDA is investigating reports of radiation overdose used on patients undergoing CT scans, blasts of X-rays that allow doctors to see a three-dimensional image of a targeted organ or tissue, used to image their brain. The particular scan being investigated is called a perfusion CT and is typically used to diagnose a stroke or an aneurysm. The FDA says that over 300 patients at four hospitals – Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles County California and Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Alabama – may have received more radiation than expected.
According to a report from National Public Radio (NPR), Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, the acting director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, says that the perfusion CT scanners manufactured by GE Healthcare and Toshiba are emitting the equivalent of hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of times the radiation used in common chest x-rays – and that's causing patients to suffer radiation overdose side effects. He told NPR:
You can think about a regular CT scan to the brain as being about the equivalent in radiation of 100 chest X-rays. And a CT profusion scan of the brain is several hundred chest X-Rays. And the patients in these cases received - who got excess radiation - received the equivalent of several thousand chest X-rays.
Medical experts say that radiation overdose symptoms can include tissue destruction, nausea, weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite and a significant increase in the risk of developing cancer.
That's the question the FDA, injured patients and consumer advocate groups want answered. According to Shuren, the problem could be due to design problems of the scanners, human error or a combination of the two.
The FDA is urging hospitals nationwide to follow up with patients who have received the scan, check the dosage levels provided, make sure that dosing protocols are strictly followed and verify that the scanners are working properly as it believes that the problem may not be limited to the California and Alabama hospitals.
In the meantime, injured patients have filed product liability lawsuits against the manufacturers and legal experts say that additional lawsuits against the manufacturers are likely..
If you've been injured after undergoing a perfusion CT scan, contact an experienced radiation overdose lawyer to discuss and evaluate your situation. Scanner manufacturers can, and should, be held responsible for putting defective medical devices into the marketplace and hospitals have a duty to make sure that the equipment they use works properly. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but keep in mind that every state has its own statute of limitations, or time deadline, in which to file a lawsuit.
The foregoing article has been prepared by an attorney who is a regular contributor to FreeAdvice, and is now undergoing review by the site's editorial staff.