need advice

[cgh1005]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

My wife is a radiological technician who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. We really feel her current employer is responsible partly for her cancer for a few reasons. She was a light smoker she also had TB from providing patient care. Reason one her employer required x-rays because of her TB every 2 years last year based on her answers to a questionnaire the x-ray was not given had it been given the Cancer would have been caught in an earlier stage. But the primary reason that I believe contributed to her cancer was over exposure to radiation. She has been in multiple x-rays where she was or expected to hold babies instead of the mother holding their own child which does not happen at other hospitals. She also believes that x-ray are being over radiated which to me was evident in her own X-ray it clearly shows organs in a shielded area meaning too much is used to me. They do use radiological badges that show exposure that they turn in periodically but have never been alerted of over exposure. We do have her recent badge should she give it back to hospital or hold also please advise if we have an issue worth pursuing.

THANK YOU

 

[cbg]

When she described her situation to a workers comp attorney, what did that attorney say?

 

[PsychDoc]

Sorry to hear about your wife. For your wife to become a radiological technician she must have received some form of training/certification. So there are several paths to go down to demonstrate she either did or did not receive the necessary training to protect herself from the dangers of the job. If your wife was simply a nurse or physician's asst, etc. then there would not be an assumption that training regarding over exposure to radiation was provided at some point, but because she is actually a rad tech the lay person will most likely draw that assumption.

It will be up to an attorney to demonstrate your wife either did not receive proper training or the hospital failed to enforce safe practices. For instance, you say she holds the babies instead of the mother and that is not common practice. As a trained rad tech, did your wife point out this practice was not safe?

I guess what I'm trying to say is for you to link the cancer back to her job it might be helpful to look at the training and/or policies of the hospital as well as her initial training program.