Woman Trapped In CT Scanner For Hours After Technician Forgets About Her
Posted September 28, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Cancer patients often have legitimate complaints about the long wait times they must endure for sophisticated treatments. But a Tucson woman had an entirely different beef with the medical community after was left alone in a CT scanner for hours. The technician apparently forgot about her and left the clinic, turning off the lights and locking the doors in the process.
Elvira Tellez, 67, eventually crawled out of the device. She called her son in a panic, who told her to call 911.
“At some point, my mom lost track of time and felt like too much time had passed, but she couldn’t look at a clock or anything because it was dark,” said her son, Ariel Tellez.
“I don’t know what to think,” the still-rattled woman adds. “I think and think and think, but I can’t understand it.”
County sheriff deputies eventually arrived and freed her from her prolonged appointment.
Tellez has had trouble sleeping since the incident and wants an explanation from the medical office, Arizona Oncology Associates.
The technician called the next day and apologized.
