
A 61-year-old man died after being pulled into an MRI machine while wearing a heavy metal necklace at a Nassau County medical facility.
The incident occurred at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, Long Island, when the man entered the MRI room without authorization while the machine was operating, according to Nassau County Police Department.
His wife told local media she had called him into the room following her scan. When he entered wearing a chain necklace, the magnetic force pulled him toward the machine, officials said.
Police stated the incident “resulted in a medical episode” and the man was later pronounced dead. The department is investigating the circumstances.
MRI machines utilize powerful magnetic fields to create detailed medical images. Standard protocol requires patients to remove metal items and change clothing before scans or entering the machine area.
“The male victim was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine, which resulted in a medical episode,” Nassau County Police reported.
While police have not released the victim’s identity, Adrienne Jones-McAllister told News 12 Long Island that her husband Keith died in the incident.
“He waved goodbye to me and then his whole body went limp,” she said.
Jones-McAllister explained she was receiving a knee MRI and asked her husband to help her stand afterward. She said he wore a 20-pound chain with a lock used for weight training.
“At that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI,” she described.
Jones-McAllister said this was not their first visit to the facility, and an employee had previously noticed her husband’s training weight.
She claimed the employee and her husband had discussed it before: “Oh that’s a big chain.”
According to Jones-McAllister, a technician attempted to pull her husband from the machine.
“I’m saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine?’ Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!'” she recalled.
Nassau Open MRI has not responded to requests for comment.
The US Food and Drug Administration warns that MRI machines’ magnetic fields attract all magnetic objects, including keys, mobile phones, and oxygen tanks, which “may cause damage to the scanner or injury to the patient or medical professionals if those objects become projectiles.”
A similar incident occurred in 2001 when a six-year-old boy died from a fractured skull at a New York City medical center during an MRI exam after the magnetic force propelled an oxygen tank across the room.
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