Science & Tech

Woman's MRI scan ends in gunshot wound to the butt

Woman's MRI scan ends in gunshot wound to the butt
MRI Scanning Could Be Key To Cutting Prostate Cancer Deaths
unbranded - Newsworthy / VideoElephant

A woman was shot in the bum after flouting no metal rules and bringing a concealed gun into an MRI scan with her.

Technology in modern medicine today is astounding and involves processes that most ordinary people don’t understand.

So, we rely upon experts like radiographers to tell us the dos and don'ts to avoid situations like when a patient received “major injuries” after wearing a metal butt plug in an MRI scan.

But one woman who thought she knew better and broke the cardinal “no metal allowed” rule quickly found out why the rule exists when the gun she was secretly carrying went off and shot her in the bum.

The events of the incident were published in a report by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and revealed that the woman was carrying an iron handgun when she was having an MRI scan done.

The report explained that the handgun became attracted to the magnet and fired a single shot that entered her “right buttock area”.

“The patient was examined by a physician at the site who described the entry and exit holes as very small and superficial, only penetrating subcutaneous tissue.”

The report also added that the woman had been through a pre-procedure screening process “which includes weapons specifically, and answered no to all screening questions”.

MRI machines work by producing an extremely strong magnetic field and radio waves that force protons in the body to align with it.

They produce detailed images of the inside of the body but the presence of magnetic metal can potentially leave the patient with more issues than they went in with.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

The Conversation (0)