A shocking incident recently took the life of a 61-year-old man after being violently pulled into an active Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
The mishap occurred at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, New York, where the deceased, identified by his wife as Keith Jones-McAllister, entered the MRI room without authorization while the powerful machine was operational.
His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister who had just completed a knee scan, recounted the horrifying moment when her husband’s 20 pound metal chain necklace was suddenly yanked towards a machine slamming his body against the scanner with tremendous force.
He reportedly used to wear such a heavy chain for weight training.
As per the witness reports the magnetic force was so intense it spun the man round and then sucked him into the machine.
His wife reported making noises and asking technicians to switch off the machine and call the emergency assistance; she was helplessly looking at this situation.
Even though the victim was immediately assisted, authorities termed his injuries as a medical phenomenon (a term used to define disastrous injuries) before the victim was declared dead.
The Nassau County Police Department then stated that they are investigating the matter that led to the occurrence of this tragic accident, and it illuminates the fact that serious fatal consequences can be floated by the super magnets used in the MRI technology.
This tragic incident is a sobering lesson of the vital precautions enclosing the MRI machine, which creates a magnetic field powerful enough to transform regular metal into a projectile that can cause severe injury.
The U.S. food and drug administration issued warnings long ago that the MRI magnets can pull even small objects like keys, phones to larger objects such as oxygen tanks with potentially fatal results.
Back in 2001, a similar incident happened when a little boy of six-year-old was killed in an MRI as an oxygen tanker was drawn to the imaging machine fracturing his skull.
Hospitals generally have rules and regulations that state that all metal objects must be discarded before entering MRI corridors and the occurrence of the accident in this case is so appalling and this is a big question mark on implementation of safety rules in the imaging center.