But physicists don't always see eye to eye.

"My experience is that 99.9 percent of radiation rooms are shielded and I would say 99 percent of them have more shielding than they actually need to have," Thomas P. Aufdemberge, vice president of diagnostic radiology services at Medical Physicist Consultants Inc., told DOTmed News. "It's possible that somebody could have been lacking on this but I would not start this as a call for some national regulation on this."


The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for punitive damages and long-term medical screenings for health problems related to the radiation exposure. Two of them said they now have thyroid problems, headaches, sleeping problems and other health issues and another one said they have seizures and memory loss.

The remaining two were pregnant during the time they were exposed to the radiation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anyone exposed to radiation may experience health effects but a developing fetus is the most vulnerable to the effects of radiation exposure.

Five lawsuits have been filed to date but the attorney representing the plaintiffs said 30 other current and former employees are looking into their legal options.

"This is something that is certainly not isolated to this facility, it just normally does not result in a lawsuit and become a matter of public record, which is really sad," the physicist said.

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