TSA Pats-down breast cancer survivor despite body scan & medical ID card

Dean Praetorius
Huffington Post
October 2, 2011

Medical ID cards exist for a reason. So instances like this don’t happen.

Lori Dorn, wife of Laughing Squid blogger Scott Beale, found herself humiliated before boarding her Virgin America flight to San Francisco from New York’s JFK airport on Friday, after a TSA agent refused to look at her ID card. Dorn, a breast cancer survivor, currently has an implanted tissue expander that is known to be a problem for airport scanners.

But the identification card is intended to prevent situations like what happened. Dorn detailed the experience on her blog:

I told her that I was not comfortable with having my breasts touched and that I had a card in my wallet that explains the type of expanders, serial numbers and my doctor’s information (pictured) and asked to retrieve it. This request was denied. Instead, she called over a female supervisor who told me the exam had to take place. I was again told that I could not retrieve the card and needed to submit to a physical exam in order to be cleared. She then said, “And if we don’t clear you, you don’t fly” loud enough for other passengers to hear. And they did. And they stared at the bald woman being yelled at by a TSA Supervisor.

Read full article

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From Lori Dorn’s blog:

At what point does the need for security eclipse human dignity and compassion?

Yesterday I went through the imaging scanner at JFK Terminal 4 for my Virgin America flight to San Francisco. Evidently they found something, because after the scan, I was asked to step aside to have my breast area examined. I explained to the agent that I was a breast cancer patient and had a bilateral mastectomy in April and had tissue expanders put in to make way for reconstruction at a later date.

I told her that I was not comfortable with having my breasts touched and that I had a card in my wallet that explains the type of expanders, serial numbers and my doctor’s information (pictured) and asked to retrieve it. This request was denied. Instead, she called over a female supervisor who told me the exam had to take place. I was again told that I could not retrieve the card and needed to submit to a physical exam in order to be cleared. She then said, “And if we don’t clear you, you don’t fly” loud enough for other passengers to hear. And they did. And they stared at the bald woman being yelled at by a TSA Supervisor.

To my further dismay, my belongings, including my computer, were completely out of sight. I had no choice but to allow an agent to touch my breasts in front of other passengers.

Read more at her blog

This article was posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 at 9:20 am

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