CT Scan "Reset Error" Gives 206 Patients Radiation Overdose

jeffb (2.718) writes "As the LA Times reports, 206 patients receiving CT scans at Cedar Sinai hospital received up to eight times the X-ray exposure doctors intended. (The FDA alert gives details about the doses involved.) A misunderstanding over an 'embedded default setting' appears to have led to the error, which occurred when the hospital 'began using a new protocol for a specialized type of scan used to diagnose strokes. Doctors believed it would provide them more useful data to analyze disruptions in the flow of blood to brain tissue.' Human-computer interaction classes from the late 1980s onward have pounded home the lesson of the Therac-25, the usability issues of which led to multiple deaths. Will we ever learn enough to make these errors truly uncommittable?"

Comments

Re:It's About Automation

[geekoid]

"Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?"
No, my wife is the kind og geek that uses critical thinking and doesn't spread around dumb ass urban myths.

People with alcohol in their system die more often.slightly.

What next, are you going to tall us hospitals are busier during a full moon? BWahahah