FedEx Misplaces Radioactive Rods 165
Hugh Pickens writes "A shipment of radioactive rods used in medical equipment has vanished while being sent by FedEx from North Dakota to Tennessee. Based on tracking information, FedEx is focusing its search in the Tennessee area, but as a normal precaution the company alerted all of its stations 'in the event that it got waylaid and went to another station by accident.' Dr. Marc Siegel says if someone opens the container it could pose some serious health risks. 'I don't believe it has the degree of radiation that, if it were opened, your skin would suddenly slough off. But the concern would be, if this got opened inadvertently and someone didn't know what it was and then was repeatedly exposed to it over several days, it could cause a problem with radiation poisoning,' says Siegel. 'The people that use this equipment in a hospital use protective shielding with it.' The lesson is that active medical material must always be transported in a way that ensures the general public cannot get access to it. 'Medical devices should not be FedExed. They should be sent under a special service,' adds Siegel."
Re:Active Medical Material? (Score:3, Insightful)
Why do you have a problem with me using Fedex to ship somebody across the country some radioactive fiesta-ware they bought from me on eBay?
"Radioactive" doesn't automatically signify "dangerous".
Radioactive is useless... (Score:1, Insightful)
A lantern mantle is slightly radioactive as well, but nobody is terribly concerned when they're lost in shipping. The question becomes "how radioactive?".
The article references some Fox News paid commentator who's an internist, not a radiologists or CT scan technician who said "I don't believe it has the degree of radiation that, if it were opened, your skin would suddenly slop off". But then goes on to speculate about the potential for radiation poisoning. Given his qualifications and degree of confidence, it would be foolish to draw any conclusions about the safety of shipping these things via FedEx.
Re:FedEx? (Score:4, Insightful)
This thread is retarded. There's nothing in this story has to do with big government vs small government, or public vs private.
Something got screwed up in this instance. In a complex system with high volume and lots of humans involved, that's going to happen. 100% perfection is impossible. It's impossible for government, and it's impossible for corporations.
What we CAN fix is buffoons who take a totally unrelated story and try to twist it to fit whatever ideology they want to push.