By Cliff Pinckard
cleveland.com
WAUKESHA, Wisconsin — A 57-year-old woman escaped serious injury when she snuck a handgun into an MRI screening, causing the gun to go off and shoot her in the buttocks, reports say.
The shooting, which occurred on June 28 , was documented in an adverse event report filed with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
“It was reported that a patient was brought into the magnet room with a concealed ferrous handgun,” the report says. “In the process of entering the bore, the handgun was attracted to the magnet and fired a single round. The patient received a gunshot wound in the right buttock area.”
According to the report, the wounds to the unidentified woman were “superficial.” The report says the woman had undergone a screening process before the MRI exam, which includes specific questions about weapons, and had answered no to all questions.
MRIs use powerful magnets to obtain images of the inside of the body. Patients are warned not to bring any metal objects into the room where the MRI is located because of the magnets.
According to the New York Post, far worse injuries and even deaths have occurred because of metal objects being near MRIs. A Brazilian lawyer was killed at a hospital in São Paulo in January when a handgun he was carrying during an MRI discharged into his stomach, the Post reports.
The Post also reports that a nurse at a hospital in San Francisco suffered crushing injuries when she was trapped between an MRI and a hospital bed drawn to the machine.
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