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One dead, 13 injured in X-ray blunder at French hospital
STRASBOURG, France (AFP) - One person died and 13 others fell sick after they were exposed to excessive doses of X-rays as they were being scanned for prostate cancer at an eastern French hospital, the regional health authority said.
The accidents occurred between May 2004 and May 2005 at Epinal Hospital, where staff misused a new software programme that had been installed in the X-ray unit, the Lorraine Regional Hospital Agency said.
Twenty-three patients received excessive doses of radiation.
The 13 who fell ill suffered from rectal inflammation and needed surgery to fit an artificial anus, it said.
The French health ministry has ordered an independent inquiry into the affair.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061012/hl ... ancecancer
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