Hospital's poor radiation safety protocols led to cancer 'cluster' among staff, rad tech claims

A hospital in Malaysia is being sued by one of its former rad techs, who alleges that the organization’s lack of proper safety protocols is behind a cancer “cluster” among staff. 

Nur Fauzia Abdul Razak, a former radiologic technologist who worked in the nuclear medicine department at University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was diagnosed with stage 2 lymphoma that progressed to stage 4 in 2023. Fauzia claims that the diagnosis is a result of the organization’s failure to follow standard operating procedures with respect to radiation safety. Not only has her treatment required her to take time away from work, but it has come with significant expenses as well; Fauzia estimates that she has spent the equivalent of more than $25,000 USD out of pocket. 

While Fauzia is currently the only claimant seeking legal counsel, she is among what she describes as a "cluster” of staff members who were diagnosed with cancer in the years following the installation of a new PET scanner. She alleges there have been three cases of lung cancer, blood cancer, and breast cancer, and another four of thyroid disease among staff members in recent years. 

Her lawyers say she previously took her concerns to leadership, but her claims were not taken seriously. 

“When you talk about negligence in law, it arises from a duty of care,” REC Legal managing partner Ahmad Redza Abdullah, her lead counsel, said at a press conference last week. “What that means is obviously the hospital, the Ministry of Health and all the parties concerned who approve a facility like this, must owe a duty of care to the likes of Fauzia, and also to the likes of everybody who visits and all the workers there.” 

Reports indicate that both the Atomic Energy Licensing Board and the Health Ministry’s Medical Radiation Regulatory Division conducted an inspection of the department and determined that its radiation exposure levels were within an acceptable range. There also has been no confirmed evidence to suggest that the cancer cases among staff members are related. 

Fauzia is now in remission but continues to take medication related to her prior diagnosis.