Handgun goes off in hospital, injuring 1 and raising questions about MRI safety
A handgun accidentally went off, shooting its owner, while the military veteran was in an Indianapolis VA hospital, the Indianapolis Star has reported.
On New Year’s Eve the outlet reported that the victim, who was not seriously injured, was inside a procedure room that may have been an MRI suite at the time of the incident.
The article recounts past problems with guns and other metal objects in MRI suites.
Perhaps predictably, the piece has drawn commenters, most of them anonymous, from both sides of America’s endless debate over gun control.
But also entering the fray is Tobias Gilk of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety.
“While we, as a society, trip over ourselves to have tighter and tighter controls on ionizing radiation (X-rays), we have essentially ignored establishing baseline minimal safety requirements for MRI,” writes Gilk. “Accidents like this one … may very well continue if we don't agree on some simple standards to protect MRI patients and their caregivers.”
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Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.