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Comment by paulryanrogers | Hacker News Reader

Technically he entered "without permission" but at the urging of the patient. Still negligence, though more understable. I wonder if a metal detector that prevents opening the door would help? Perhaps with a big, scary red override button for emergencies?

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It seems like there could be a double door situation. Go through the first door, close it. The room detects metal, and only unlocks the door to the MRI if the other door is closed and no metal is in the room.

I’m not sure what kind of emergency would warrant allowing metal to pass through when metal is detected, if there is a risk of death for using it.

> I’m not sure what kind of emergency would warrant allowing metal to pass through when metal is detected, if there is a risk of death for using it.

The risk would be in the false positive during an emergency situation.

A false negative is also dangerous, if the magnet hasn't been quenched. In a case like this, trying to use metal bolt cutters to cut off a necklace or something is just going to compound the disaster if the magnet is still active.

A lot of patients and staff have small metal items that aren’t ferrous and it is fine. Many implants, lots of clothing (bra, jeans) and jewellery. You just have to be careful. I’m an MR tech.

"The room detects metal" is a massive cost compared to just, you know, doing what the operators tell you to do, which works in 99.99999% of the cases.

I thought in this story the operator did let the person in, which if so was a grave mistake that they now have to carry with them. Though I wonder how you think an operator would know if people have metal on them? Definitely not by trusting people to decide/judge by themselves I hope?

The policy should be no one but the patient and staff is allowed in, the prep for the patient prior to procedure (both in advance and immediately prior) should cover them, and staff should be adequately trained.

There should be no need to evaluate random other people because they simply should not be allowed in at all.

I have to assume most operators do not expect people to be wearing a 20lb chain around their neck.

Not sure why it would have to be a massive cost? Wouldn’t even need to be a room, a door like metal detector used normal security settings with its sensitivity turned up.

Now make it medical grade and it costs an insane amount.

i.e. we can't fix a dysfunction in X because of dysfunction in Y.

Pretty much yea. As soon a something becomes "medical-something" or "boat-something" the price goes up exponentially.

This is why JerryRigEverything started his "not a wheelchair" -company[0], who are not selling wheelchairs, but they happen to look a lot like wheelchairs :)

Because it's not certified as an official medical device (a wheelchair), they can sell it for (IIRC) 80% cheaper than Official Wheelchairs.

I don't even want to know what "The Rig", their offroad wheelchair, would cost if it was an approved medical device...

[0] https://notawheelchair.com

I would advocate for fixing both dysfunctions at the same time… sometimes fixing two difficult problems simultaneously is easier than individually.

The whole medical cartel is under immediate threat by both LLMs and cheap peptides (e.g. semaglutide). In my view ozempic really is a miracle drug that is unusually effective for autoimmune conditions which I think make up the vast majority of undiagnosed and untreated conditions.

It used to be Dr. Google giving better advice, now it’s Dr, ChatGPT. And at least for my conditions it gives better advice than any doctor I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to a lot.

Tech: "ok we're done here"

Wide: "honey can you come in here and help me since I don't have my walker"

Not hard to imagine something like that happening too fast to be stopped, especially if staff is distracted by the transition from running an MRI to getting the patient in/out.

There is (at least according to one episode of _Grey's Anatomy_) a big scary red button to shut down the machine in an emergency, resulting in expensive to restore operation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/m9algh/e...

According to the above post, it's a venting of the liquid helium, which requires ~$25,000 to replace).

I'm not sure: "apologies, it was too expensive to turn it off, better luck next time" is a valid justification nor is it a solution.

We’re talking about a human life here. Fuck the balance and vent immediately!

There is some consideration for other patients who may die due to not getting an MRI in the meantime

They gonna to get an MRI while the guys corpse is stuck to the machine?

Again, it isn't an instant-off button.

Only good for removal of any metal-adorn victims and unintended metallic objects ...

The dude suffocated. You don't need anything near "instant" to prevent that.

Edit: Since apparently some people need reminding, per the article he had time to say goodbye to his wife before he lost consciousness, this wasn't some liveleak skull splat type thing.

The chain apparently caused him to be hurled across the room. We don't know how he died, but given the inverse square law, the possibilities are quite grisly.

He was wearing a twenty pound necklace. In a magnetic field that strong? His throat was crushed, likely instantly.

Do you have a source for that? The BBC just says "a medical episode" of which he died later.

Multiple heart attacks.

That I can well believe!

Nobody should have permission and be kept away at all times by staff. They'd probably follow rules for a while now.

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