A 57-year-old Wisconsin woman suffered a gunshot injury after she took a concealed gun into an MRI machine. According to a U.S. FDA report, the patient was brought into the magnet room with a concealed handgun and in the process of entering the bore, the gun was attracted to the MRI magnet and fired a single round.
The patient received a gunshot wound in the right buttock area and was examined by a physician at the site who described the entry and exit holes as very small and superficial, only penetrating subcutaneous tissue.
The site reported that prior to the exam the patient had undergone a standard screening procedure for ferrous objects, which includes weapons specifically, and answered no to all screening questions.
Per protocol, the patient was taken to the hospital and later informed the site that she was okay and healing well.
The powerful magnets of an MRI machine can cause any metal object to become a danger to patients and hospital personnel. Earlier this year, a nurse at a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco became trapped between an MRI machine and a hospital bed because of a door that was left open to the examination room.
