According to US Politics Today, medical professionals are exposing infants to unnecessary radiation from x-rays. A doctor will recommend an x-ray to determine the proper course of action in case of an infant birth injury. However, improper management of x-ray may cause an infant to endure unnecessary radiation exposure.
Parents often willingly agree to an x-ray in hopes of quickly determining the appropriate treatment and because they may not understand that the x-ray room does not always protect the victim from excess radiation. A State University of New York Downstate Medical Center doctor uncovered that a high number of infants have been over-radiated as a result of hospital errors made in the radiation department.
The doctor found that one baby was radiated 10 times without any of the proper shielding, even though only a chest x-ray was ordered. The doctor recommended a chest cavity x-ray but the radiation department exposed the infant to full, head-to-toe radiation. The incident occurred in 2007.
The New York hospital’s pediatric radiologist documented additional mistakes, such as full-body x-rays done on infants without regard if an attending physician needed a full-body scan and radiation levels on the scanners extended permissible levels for infants. Many of exposed infants needed additional scans because their bodies were poorly positioned, creating unreadable images.
These findings caused the medical center to reevaluate its radiation practices on infants, but failed to report the issue to the New York medical board or other state health agencies. The hospital is currently under investigation for over-radiation of infants injured at birth.
