Man's Death From MRI Machine Was A 'Preventable Incident': Report

HEMPSTEAD, NY — The family of the man killed by an MRI machine last week has hired a law firm.

Attorney Michael Lauterborn, with the firm Smith, Cheung & Lauterborn, PC, said in a statement that his death was "a preventable incident," according to Newsday.

Keith McAllister, 61, of Hempstead was pulled into the MRI machine at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, police said.

His wife Adrienne Jones-McAllister told News 12 that she had just finished having an MRI of her knee when she asked a staffer to bring her husband in. Her husband was yanked toward the machine from his 20-pound metal necklace, police said.

The lawyer's statement also said the family "is devastated and seeking answers," Newsday reported.

Patch attempted to reach the law firm directly for the statement.

Jones-McAllister said her husband suffered multiple heart attacks from the incident and died at a hospital the next day.

A GoFundMe set up by her daughter is approaching $10,000 in donations.

"He was attached to the machine for almost an hour before they could release the chain from the machine," Samantha Bodden wrote in the GoFundMe description.

Bodden added that McAllister "was on a fixed income from social security and didn’t have much. So at this time, my mother is asking for help with expenses to help bury him."

The lawyer's statement also said that they are "committed to ensuring all facts surrounding this incident are thoroughly investigated by the Nassau County Police Department and the New York State Department of Health," Newsday said.

It's not clear how McAllister got into the MRI room. Patients usually have screenings done before the scan can get scheduled. Locker rooms are provided for jewelry placement.

"There are several layers that a patient would go through just to even get into the magnet area," said Sean Maraj, director of imaging, Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital.

"There are just so many regulatory safeguards, whether it's through policy, procedure [or] laws that really try to prevent this from occurring," Maraj told Patch.

Lauterborn said: "This heartbreaking incident highlights the critical importance of safety protocols in medical imaging facilities."