Suburban Hospital fined $25K

Suburban Hospital will pay the Maryland Department of the Environment $25,000 after a radiologist at the Bethesda facility failed to turn in his device on schedule and got overexposed, The Gazette reports.

The physician received 5.467 rems of radiation, 0.467 more than the annual dose allowed under health and safety regulations, after failing to turn in his dosimeter — a device which measures exposure to radiation — on time.

The hospital reported the overexposure in March 2009, said Rona Borenstein-Levy, spokeswoman for the hospital.

Along with the $25,000 payment the hospital has agreed to no longer rely on health care workers to protect themselves by voluntarily turning in the dosimeters.