Overview

• On July 16 at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, a 61-year-old man wearing a 20-pound metal chain was pulled into an active MRI scanner and died the following day.
• The victim, identified by his wife as Keith McAllister, entered the scan room while the magnet was engaged, drawing his chain with fatal force.
• The Nassau County Police Department and New York’s Department of Health have launched probes into whether screening failures or regulatory exemptions contributed to the accident.
• New York health rules exempt standalone MRI facilities from routine inspections applied to diagnostic centers, a gap now under regulatory review.
• Experts warn that MRI magnets can turn metal objects into high-velocity projectiles, underscoring the need for strict pre-scan screening.