General Electric technicians were closely examining the machine Monday morning, but the hospital has not stopped using it because it is needed to perform critical brain scans, hospital spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez said.
The hospital was recently selected as one of nine medical facilities in Los Angeles County to start receiving emergency stroke patients. Glendale Adventist has notified the 10 patients who were overexposed, one of whom suffered hair loss as a result of the radiation, Gonzalez said.
The patients were also offered free medical consults and ongoing follow-ups for treatment, she said.
“Communicating with the patients was the important thing for us,” Gonzalez said.
One of the patients died in October due to an unrelated illness, she said. The patient received CT radiation in February.
Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, would not comment on whether the death was being investigated.
State officials have contacted the hospital regularly to make sure it is adhering to proper procedures, he said.
The health department’s Licensing & Certification Division and Radiologic Health Branch, which enforces state codes, were also investigating the radiation cases, Montano said.
The new protocols that led to the over-radiation exposure for 10 critical stroke patients at Glendale Adventist were implemented in January and combine three types of brain-imaging procedures for simultaneous scan, Gonzalez said.
“The reason it was changed: Timing is very critical with stroke patients, so the thought was that this would make it much quicker,” Gonzalez said.
The new protocols saved time in treating critical stroke patients and provided a quick diagnosis, she said.
Only 10 patients received the triple-imaging brain exams between January and early November, Gonzalez said.
Glendale Adventist has since stopped performing the procedure, she added.
Get in touch VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.
