A 61-year-old man in New York has died after he was sucked into a magnetic resonance imaging machine this week, Nassau County Police said Friday.
The individual, sporting a hefty metal chain, intruded into a room without permission while an MRI machine, known for its powerful magnetic field, was operational at a medical facility in Westbury on Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities.
Police reported that the metallic necklace caused him “to be pulled towards the machine, leading to a medical incident,” which took place around 4:30 p.m.
He succumbed to his injuries at 2:36 p.m. on Thursday at a hospital, as mentioned by police in Friday’s statement.
Safety rules surrounding MRI machines require that people bring nothing metal into a the procedure room. Patients are typically required to change out of clothes before entering and screened about any implants or metal in their bodies.
“Careful screening of people and objects entering the MR environment is critical to ensure nothing enters the magnet area that may become a projectile,” the Food and Drug ministration says on its website about safety practices surrounding magnetic resonance.
The MRI office where the incident occurred, Nassau Open MRI, is in Westbury, a community of around 15,000 in Nassau County on Long Island.
