There's now a sixth staff member with a brain tumor at a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital. All six staff members worked on the fifth floor of Mass General Brigham's Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Although each brain tumor was deemed benign, there are six other workers with "other health concerns."
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This has happened despite the hospital's earlier statement this month that there were "no environmental risks" on the fifth floor. It began with five cases of three different types of brain tumors on April 1, per the New York Post.
Sixth Massachusetts Hospital Staff Member Reports Brain Tumor
All of the affected workers were assigned to the maternal care labor and delivery unit. One of the nurses with a brain tumor claimed to CBS News that as many as 10 nurses on that floor were diagnosed with different brain tumors over the last few years. Some of them were cancerous, while others were benign.
Despite having surgeries and treatments, she hadn't felt much support from the hospital. "We want reassurance because this has not been a reassuring past few months for a lot of the staff members," she said. "We want to feel safe, the same way we want to make our patients feel safe."
Although all the affected nurses were rightly worried, the hospital claimed to have found no risks. "After we became aware of reported brain tumors in individuals who currently or previously had worked in the same area of the hospital, we conducted an extensive investigation in collaboration with the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Newton-Wellesley Safety Officer, radiation and pharmaceutical safety offices, and external environmental consultants."
The statement revealed that they interviewed each staffer who came forward. They assessed the workers "in the context of their individual medical history and risk factors." After the investigation, they found "no environmental risks" linked to brain tumor development. "As always, the health and wellbeing of our staff, clinicians, and patients is our absolute top priority."
But now, on April 15, we've learned of a sixth case of a worker with a brain tumor. NBC10 Boston reported this after the sixth staff member came forward with the worrying news. With this grave update, perhaps the hospital should continue its investigations to see if it missed anything.
