[144706]
Exposure to radiation due to faulty lead in protective garments. Aprons and shields purchased 4/98. 3 months later lead cracked, falling to bottom of garment, leaving wearer unprotected from radiation exposure. Mfr writes to rptr: "this letter is in response to the unfortunate qc problem you experienced with a recent shipment of infab x-ray protective aprons ordered. The problem occurred as a result of our receiving a shipment of our hx lead formulation that had not been cured properly during mfr. This improper curing caused the lead vinyl to lack the normal elasticity and composite strength so that it easily tore and separated during flexing under normal use. We had never experienced this particular problem in all the 17 years we have been in the x-ray apron business so it never occurred to us to test any lead vinyl shipments against this parameter. We were only made aware of this problem after the aprons, that were produced from the 6 faulty rolls, were reported by two other end users and then from you. This all occurred in a matter of three weeks so we did not know what the problem was until the first reported faulty apron was returned to us for eval. Keep in mind we had never experienced anything like this before so we had no idea what caused the reported problem. We have since added qc controls to check for this possible "uncured" condition in the future. We stopped all other production in order to have your 14 aprons shipped to you. "
Patient Sequence No: 1, Text Type: D, B5