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Chemotherapy Patients Set Off Subway Alarms

dave writes "Recently, cities such as New York and elsewhere have been installing radiation detectors in subways as an anti-terror precaution. However, as reported in New Scientist, patients who are undergoing radiation treatment are setting off the alarms. From the article, "a 34-year-old patient who had been treated with radioactive iodine for Graves disease, a thyroid disorder, returned to their clinic three weeks later complaining he had been strip-searched twice in Manhattan subway stations.""

18 of 525 comments (clear)

  1. Al Queda's new weapon by Masami+Eiri · · Score: 2, Funny

    Irradiated pedestrians! Seriously though, I never thought they'd get enough radiation shot into them to set off detectors, unless the threshold is way to low.

  2. Re:My question is... by hazzzard · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... any attempt by terrorists to try to hide the radiation (thick lead, etc) ... Well, could you also just require these patients to wear something like that (thick lead jacket and pants, plus a lead face mask and hat) so that these tiny amounts of radiation will then not be detected any more??! I am sure the paranoid US agencies would like such a solution better than making the detectors less sensitive...

  3. Homer Simpson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    That explains why intensive use of the subway can lead to stupidity.

    Just in Homer's path....

  4. IN the subway station? by EvilStein · · Score: 5, Funny

    That guy must have a hell of a time getting to work.

    Maybe there's another reason he got strip searched.

    And he was strip searched IN THE SUBWAY STATION? Dude, I hate to break the news, but those weren't cops that were doing the strip searching.

  5. Geeze... by eamber · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't purchase a new smoke detector and take it on the subway - they'll likely call in the National Guard.

  6. Radioactive Cat Crap (could it be more toxic?) by puto · · Score: 5, Funny

    What about this guy?

    http://wcbs880.com/water/watercooler_story_29809 07 52.html

    I never thought cat shit could be more offensive, but add radiation and we take it to a whole new level.

    From the Article "Oct 25, 2002 9:04 am US/Eastern
    (AP) (WHITMAN, Mass. ) A man who ignored a veterinarian's order to flush his cat's radioactive waste down the toilet was hit with a $2,800 bill.

    And Bill Jenness said he's happy to pay it.

    "I don't feel I was mistreated," Jenness told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy. "It's my cat, my responsibility and I did not abide by the directions I was given."

    Jenness' cat, Mitzi, an 11-year-old shorthair, was treated with an injection of radioiodine after developing hyperthyroidism, which is common in cats her age.

    The treatment makes the cat radioactive for weeks, so special care is required, including limiting snuggling time, keeping the cat away from children and pregnant women and using protective gloves when flushing the cat litter.

    Jenness said he decided to throw the litter in the trash after the waste hardened into abnormally large clumps.

    "I was afraid of my septic system being clogged," he said.

    Mitzi's mess was discovered at an incinerator in Rochester when alarms detected radioactivity. Workers traced the waste to Jenness after finding mail with his name on it nearby.

    The radiation treatment by Radiocat in Waltham and cost of disposing the waste totaled about $5,000. Jenness said it was worth it because Mitzi is doing well.

    Radiocat's Web site says the amount of radiation from a radioiodine shot is probably less than the amount a person receives on a long plane flight or a day at the beach.

    But Thomas Burnett, a Whitman public works commissioner, said any radiation in trash is too much.

    This is too funny.

    Puto

    --
    The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
  7. Re:how about... by Blkdeath · · Score: 3, Funny
    I'm a white male, mid-twenties, w/a beard.

    I wouldn't exactly call it racial profiling...

    I believe that's known as "John Walker Syndrome".

    Might want to consider a shave, or a geographic location change.

    --
    BD Phone Home!

    Shameless plug. Like you weren't expecting it.

  8. Re:huh? by PD · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's right. If it were the same thing, every drunk that pissed on the subway wall would set the alarm off.

  9. Re:how about... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 3, Funny
    #4830920) I'm a white male, mid-twenties, w/a beard.

    I wouldn't exactly call it racial profiling...

    But the security guys are black, no???
  10. Re:Only in the US. by shaitand · · Score: 3, Funny

    Leave the poor canadians alone! Just because they aren't important enough and there aren't enough perks to purchase to make them worth owning is no reason to rub it in or make fun of them!

  11. holy shit by tswinzig · · Score: 5, Funny

    It apparantly is no longer enough for them to MISS typos in their own writings, they have to introduce them into other peoples'!

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  12. Barium Enema by Ranger · · Score: 2, Funny

    "No officer, I'm not carrying a dirty bomb. I just had a Barium enema. Would you like to check my ass with your radiation detector?"

    --
    "You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
  13. Re:My question is... by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nonsense! Manhattan has a plethora of alternatives. There are the friendly, courteous, safety-oriented taxis. Or you could take a leisurely bike ride through the city streets, confident that every driver will be keeping an eye on you to ensure your safety. Then again, you can always bring your car into the city, and experience the relaxation of a Monday morning jaunt through the pristine thoroughfares, confident that the traffic will never overwhelm you.

  14. 100% and counting... by gnovos · · Score: 3, Funny

    I should play the lottery, considering how often I get picked for "random" searches... 100% so far.

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  15. McD by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    McDonald's installed one also, but they had to take it down because their Secret Sauce kept setting it off.

  16. Just ask Dr. Banner by extra88 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Gamma radiation, although it passes through many feet of air and well into tissue, is not as damaging because it is not ionizing. However, high exposures have significant impacts.
    Sure, it can make you green and stupid but also strong.
  17. Re:Just stay out of the subway by wheany · · Score: 2, Funny

    Okay, this one's easy:

    a) Terrorists are evil
    b) Nucular radiation is evil

    Therefore terrorists emit nucular radiation.

    QED

  18. Re:Chemo? Gamma not ionizing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny


    Gamma radiation is VERY ionizing. Why do you think it causes cancer? Why do you think it casues radiation poisoning in high doses?


    Why do you think it causes people to mutate and turn green when they get angry?