TSA's mm-Wave Body Scanner Breaks Diabetic Teen's $10K Insulin Pump 811
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the terrorists-are-known-to-have-insulin dept.
from the terrorists-are-known-to-have-insulin dept.
OverTheGeicoE writes "Savannah Barry, a Colorado teenager, was returning home from a conference in Salt Lake City. She is a diabetic and wears an insulin pump to control her insulin levels 24/7. She carries documentation of her condition to assist screeners, who usually give her a pat-down search. This time the screeners listened to her story, read her doctor's letter, and forced her to go through a millimeter-wave body scanner anyway. The insulin pump stopped working correctly, and of course, she was subjected to an invasive manual search. 'My life is pretty much in their hands when I go through a body scan with my insulin pump on,' she says. She wants TSA screeners to have more training. Was this a predictable outcome, considering that no one outside TSA has access to millimeter-wave scanners for testing? Would oversight from the FDA or FCC prevent similar incidents from happening in the future?"
forced? (Score:5, Interesting)
Wait a minute... I think the larger issue here is that they forced her through the scanner.
Maybe I'm wrong, but is that not improper? I thought they had to allow manual inspection at your request.
Re:The war on terror is over (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd actually vote for Obama if he did that.
Re:forced? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:forced? (Score:5, Interesting)
+1. Several women have been forced to walk through the scanner multiple times, in order for the men to get a better view of their nudity on the screen.
forensic analysis (Score:5, Interesting)
I want to see the results of a forensic analysis of the unit to find out why it failed. if the scanner is putting out enough energy to permanently damage the circuits it's a strong argument against the safety of these things.
Jessie Ventura (Score:5, Interesting)
He has had hip replacement surgery. "Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is suing the TSA and Homeland Security for humiliating and ‘offensive’ pat-down procedures he’s been subjected to during airport security checks that included ‘warrantless, non-suspicion-based offensive touching, gripping and rubbing of the genital and other sensitive areas of his body.’ "
He is suing them in court.
Re:new slogan (Score:5, Interesting)
Wasn't there a Cornel (?) study showing that the TSA caused more American deaths (from people deciding driving was better than molestation) than terrorists over a decade?
Re:forced? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:new slogan (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:RTFM (Score:5, Interesting)
Whistle-blowers have already testified that even they are not allowed to see the manual. Other countries consider the TSA to be a joke and a money-scam.
Re:forced? (Score:4, Interesting)
Unless I am totally mistaken, the people who view the scanner images aren't even within sight of the screening area, precisely for this reason (so people can't be forced through the scanner to satisfy the prurient interests of creeps.) Granted, there are probably ways around it, but this sounds more like rank stupidity than unchecked ephebophilia.
Re:new slogan (Score:5, Interesting)
You have the same odds of being killed on an airplane by a terrorist as you do being killed by cancer from a body scanning device (1 in 30 million):
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120405/04390118385/tsa-security-theater-described-one-simple-infographic.shtml [techdirt.com]
Slashdot has gone crazy... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:new slogan (Score:3, Interesting)
This. I think TFA left out some very important details here.
I have found myself needing to fly half a dozen times since 9/11. Of those, four have happened since they started using unregulated, untested medical imaging equipment to look for...Well, they don't catch weapons, so who the hell knows what they look for, but not my point (this time)...
Four times I have refused a scan and requested a patdown. And only once did they even bother asking my "why"; the rest, they just casually directed me to go the taped-off Square of Public Shame for my patdown. And as a humorous side-note, one of those times I made it through security faster than those in the shearing - er, scanning - line.
So the idea that they "made" her go through just doesn't pass the sniff test.
Yank the pump's certification NOW! (FDA/FCC) (Score:2, Interesting)
For the insulin pump to not only malfunction, but to be damaged to the point of needing the be replaced, means it should NOT be certified by the FDA, its certification needs to be revoked immediately and recalled.
That is like the dark days where people with pacemakers had to avoid microwaves.
This time it was a TSA scanner, the next time it could be a cell tower, power transformer box (there are a lot of them at street level in many cities), cell phone, walkie talkie, CB, aviation radio, store anti-theft system, garage door opener, home security system, car key fob or anything RF based.
Also, FCC rules require, and I quote "This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. "
#2 means it can't freaking FRY from an RF source!
So it is in violation of FDA and FCC rules and not just in a technical way, it became busted, and it is a necessary medical device.
I hope it just turned off and wouldn't turn on or something similar, I hope it didn't decide to pump 45 days dose like in the hacker demonstration or silently underdose, overdose or something else crazy like that.