more on BBC: Therapy 'sets off airport alarms'

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>
Date: August 20, 2006 3:37:16 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us
Subject: Re: [IP] BBC: Therapy 'sets off airport alarms'

> I got particular joy from the irony of this paragraph:  "Patients who
> have received
> treatment involving radioactive particles are already advised to
> avoid public
> transport for two weeks so that they do not expose nearby  
> passengers to
> radioactivity."
>
> Please, someone, tell me how that patient avoids exposing him/her
> self to
> radioactivity?!?

Let me add some comments based on first-hand experience.

Last year, I was diagnosed with a medical condition for which  
radioisotpe
therapy was one possible treatment.  I had to choose: do nothing (which
meant that I'd continue to experience unpleasant symptoms, and those  
might
even get worse), undergo surgery (hardly risk-free itself; potential
problems there include the risks of anesthesia, hospital-acquired
infections, and collateral damage to other organs from the surgery
itself), and a radioisotope.  I opted for the latter, not because I like
irradiating myself (and others, though in accordance with the  
instructions
I was given I isolated myself for a few days), but because I concluded
that it entailed the least risk -- zero risk wasn't one of my choices.
(Was I right?  I don't know; oddly enough, I am experiencing an unusual
side-effect associated with the treatment I selected.)

The issue of setting off alarms isn't new, either.  At a shopping mall
restaurant 15 minutes from my house, a patient did set off some  
detectors.
 I was given a letter explaining my situation; I was supposed to  
show it
to any police officers who stopped me.  Somewhat to my surprise, I never
had a chance to use it, even though my daily commute takes me through a
major transportation facility and I was in close contact with a  
number of
high-ranking current and former government officials (and their  
associated
Secret Service agents) just two weeks after treatment.  In a way, that's
too bad -- I'm curious to see if they'd have handled it correctly.   
Do you
simply believe the letter?  Call the phone numbers on the letter itself?
(When in Vancouver for a security conference a few weeks ago, I saw a
T-shirt saying "Do Not Feed the Bears", with a picture of a moose saying
"I'm not a bear -- Trust me!")

                --Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb


-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/