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TSA's mm-Wave Body Scanner Breaks Diabetic Teen's $10K Insulin Pump
OverTheGeicoE writes "Savannah Barry, a Colorado teenager, was returning home from a conference in Salt Lake City. She is a diabetic and wears an insulin pump to control her insulin levels 24/7. She carries documentation of her condition to assist screeners, who usually give her a pat-down search. This time the screeners listened to her story, read her doctor's letter, and forced her to go through a millimeter-wave body scanner anyway. The insulin pump stopped working correctly, and of course, she was subjected to an invasive manual search. 'My life is pretty much in their hands when I go through a body scan with my insulin pump on,' she says. She wants TSA screeners to have more training. Was this a predictable outcome, considering that no one outside TSA has access to millimeter-wave scanners for testing? Would oversight from the FDA or FCC prevent similar incidents from happening in the future?"
Wait a minute... I think the larger issue here is that they forced her through the scanner.
Maybe I'm wrong, but is that not improper? I thought they had to allow manual inspection at your request.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I'd actually vote for Obama if he did that.
I want to see the results of a forensic analysis of the unit to find out why it failed. if the scanner is putting out enough energy to permanently damage the circuits it's a strong argument against the safety of these things.
He has had hip replacement surgery. "Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is suing the TSA and Homeland Security for humiliating and ‘offensive’ pat-down procedures he’s been subjected to during airport security checks that included ‘warrantless, non-suspicion-based offensive touching, gripping and rubbing of the genital and other sensitive areas of his body.’ "
He is suing them in court.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
Wasn't there a Cornel (?) study showing that the TSA caused more American deaths (from people deciding driving was better than molestation) than terrorists over a decade?
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Is there anything which will spark or light up or make noise when bombarded by waves?
I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
Whistle-blowers have already testified that even they are not allowed to see the manual. Other countries consider the TSA to be a joke and a money-scam.
Let's call it what it is, Anti-Social Media.
You have the same odds of being killed on an airplane by a terrorist as you do being killed by cancer from a body scanning device (1 in 30 million):
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120405/04390118385/tsa-security-theater-described-one-simple-infographic.shtml
If someone posted a story where someone claimed that their grandmother's pacemaker stopped working because the LHC was turned on, it would get voted down as unsupported circumstantial and anecdotal evidence. Most Slashdotters probably also laugh at people who are religious, even those who are convinced they witnessed a miracle from God at some point in their life. Come on guys. This is 99% a case of seeing what you want to see.
Also, she could simply said no I dont want to go through. Then they have to pat her down.
This. I think TFA left out some very important details here.
I have found myself needing to fly half a dozen times since 9/11. Of those, four have happened since they started using unregulated, untested medical imaging equipment to look for...Well, they don't catch weapons, so who the hell knows what they look for, but not my point (this time)...
Four times I have refused a scan and requested a patdown. And only once did they even bother asking my "why"; the rest, they just casually directed me to go the taped-off Square of Public Shame for my patdown. And as a humorous side-note, one of those times I made it through security faster than those in the shearing - er, scanning - line.
So the idea that they "made" her go through just doesn't pass the sniff test.
For the insulin pump to not only malfunction, but to be damaged to the point of needing the be replaced, means it should NOT be certified by the FDA, its certification needs to be revoked immediately and recalled.
That is like the dark days where people with pacemakers had to avoid microwaves.
This time it was a TSA scanner, the next time it could be a cell tower, power transformer box (there are a lot of them at street level in many cities), cell phone, walkie talkie, CB, aviation radio, store anti-theft system, garage door opener, home security system, car key fob or anything RF based.
Also, FCC rules require, and I quote "This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. "
#2 means it can't freaking FRY from an RF source!
So it is in violation of FDA and FCC rules and not just in a technical way, it became busted, and it is a necessary medical device.
I hope it just turned off and wouldn't turn on or something similar, I hope it didn't decide to pump 45 days dose like in the hacker demonstration or silently underdose, overdose or something else crazy like that.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!