Man critically injured after getting sucked into MRI machine, Long Island police say
Nassau County police said the 61-year-old man wearing a metallic necklace was pulled off his feet by the magnetic machine when he suddenly entered the exam room.
A witness at Nassau Open MRI on Old Country Road in Westbury told police the man defied orders to stay out of the MRI room after he heard the patient, his relative, screaming and got concerned.
Doctors and staff at the prestigious North Shore University Hospital explained the dangers of magnetic resonance imaging if protocols are not followed to a T.
"The dangers could be catastrophic and it underscores why we have all the safety precautions in place," Dr. Payal Sud said.
MRI machines can be especially dangerous around people with oxygen tanks, in wheelchairs or even wearing magnetic jewelry. Patients must remove all metal and electrical objects before getting scanned, according to North Shore.
"It would act like a torpedo trying to get into the middle of the center of the magnet," Charles Winterfeldt, the hospital's director of imaging services, said.
Still, experts say injuries and deaths tied to MRI machines are rare when magnets pull an object from inside a room.
The Nassau County Police homicide squad is investigating the incident at Nassau Open MRI. They did not disclose the injured man's name.
"If this was a chain that was wrapped around the neck, I could imagine any kind of strangulation injuries that could happen. Asphyxiation, cervical spine injuries," Sud said.
Nassau Open MRI, which has multiple locations in the New York area, declined to comment at this time.
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