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Colo. Woman Among Many Injured After MRI

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May 28, 2008 8:08 pm US/Mountain

Colo. Woman Among Many Injured After MRI

Reporting
Shaun Boyd
DENVER (CBS4) ― It's a medical procedure thousands of patients have every year, but magnetic resonance imaging, or MRIs are now the focus of a growing number of lawsuits, including one by a Colorado woman.

When a patient gets an MRI they are injected with a contrast dye that enhances the X-ray images, but hundreds of patients say that dye also can cause a painful, deadly disease. They're now suing General Electric Healthcare, the maker of the dye.

Donna Wetherbee had a standard MRI done at Exempla Lutheran Hospital and is now left with scars.

"It looks better to me because it used to be open wounds," Wetherbee said, referring to her scars. "This is something everybody does. It's an MRI, not a big deal, not a long process (and) non-invasive."

The 45-minute procedure would change her life forever. By the next morning, Wetherbee says she was in excruciating pain and her legs were covered with open sores.

"It was like my legs were on fire," she said.

Doctors told her she had gadolinium, a toxic heavy metal, in her skin and muscles -- and there was no cure. The source was even more shocking. It was the contrast dye used for her MRI.

In healthy people the kidneys flush it out, but Wetherbee had kidney disease. General Electric argues there's no proof it's to blame. Wetherbee's attorney, Beth Klein, disagrees.

"I think we've got good scientific data, on correlating that, based on an independent study," Klein said.

Klein said there are hundreds of patients like Wetherbee, many of whom have died from gadolinium. She wants GE held accountable.

"They certainly knew that gadolinium is a heavy metal and that it's toxic to human beings," Klein said. 

Wetherbee said she still can't walk without pain and is unable to work.

"I think they need to be responsible for a drug they manufactured and make sure it doesn't hurt anybody else," Wetherbee said.

Klein said she is getting an average of two calls a day from patients who've been injected with gadolinium-based dye and have similar problems. Most of them also have kidney disease.

GE Healthcare sent CBS4 a statement saying it is committed to patient care and safety and is working closely with global health authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration to better understand the cause of the condition.

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