Schedules of radiologist, technicians altered in wake of death

ROCKPORT – A radiologist and two radiology technicians have modified their work schedules in the wake of an accidental death at Penobscot Bay Medical Center.

Hospital officials announced Friday that the three employees handled the dye that was injected mistakenly into the spine of Robert Nason Jr., 31, of Rockland.

Nason went into the hospital on Oct. 10 for a myelogram, a scan of his spine, and he was injected with a dye in anticipation of the procedure. It later was determined that the wrong dye was used.

Nason became ill and was treated in the hospital’s emergency room. He then was transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he died early Oct. 11.

Karen Cadbury, vice president for communications of Northeast Health Inc., the hospital’s parent corporation, said Friday that the two radiology technicians, whom the hospital is not naming, have agreed not to return to work temporarily.

She said she did not know whether the two would be paid in their absence.

The radiologist, also unnamed, voluntarily switched to a limited-duty work schedule, Cadbury said.

She was not sure whether the three were the only ones to handle the dye that was injected into Nason.

Dr. David Bradeen, an internal medicine physician at the hospital, said Pen Bay conducts 25 to 50 myelograms annually, Cadbury reported.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office has conducted an autopsy but is not disclosing any cause of death, pending further study.

The hospital contacted the state Department of Human Services division of certification and licensing about the death, and the state has initiated an investigation. No DHS official was available Friday to comment on the investigation.

The mother of Nason’s widow referred a reporter’s inquiries to an attorney in Portland. The attorney did not return telephone messages Friday.