Steven Beumel, Mayo Clinic Rad Tech, Guilty of Hep C Tampering

Matthew Skoufalos | | Radiology Business | Business Intelligence
In the six years he was employed by the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, radiology technician Steven Beumel swapped out Fentanyl for saline laced with Hepatitis C at least five times. Today, the 48-year-old man pled guilty to charges of tampering and theft by deception. One man died as a result of his actions, never knowing how he'd contracted the illness. It took three years for a group of Mayo Clinic epidemiologists and CDC and state health officials to tie him to the crime. Beumel has been in FBI custody for nearly one year. As noted in a press release from that agency, the plainspoken details of his confession underscore the panic they instilled in one of the premiere healthcare brands in the country. Small consolation, but a 2010 article from the Jacksonville Business Journal praises the hospital for its approach to managing the crisis.

Matthew Skoufalos

Related Content

Orano Med breaks ground on $265M thorium production site
Image-interpretation market scoreboard: Radiologists 72%, others 28%
Lantheus lands rights to budding radiopharmaceuticals for initial outlay of $35M
17 short-term strategies to address the national radiologist shortage
‘SR’ onboards another independent practice, its 1st in the Natural State
Analysis: Allied radiology professionals generate millions of dollars per year in indirect revenues alone

Around the web

Health Imaging
Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.