Were patients told of radiation overdoses?

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Four patients who received overdoses of radiation from CT scans at a Los Angeles hospital say they were not told what had happened.

They told the Los Angeles Times Cedars-Sinai Medical Center asked them whether they had lost any hair. They said doctors did not tell them they had received up to eight times the normal radiation during scans.

Larry Biggles had a CT scan during a visit to the emergency room in 2008. The scan found he had suffered a stroke.

Biggles said he received a telephone call in September from Dr. Barry Pressman, who asked him about headaches, hair loss and vision problems.

"The word 'radiation' never came out of his mouth," Biggles said.

The hospital said last week it had given all 206 patients who got radiation overdoses complete information about what happened.

State and federal agencies are investigating the overdoses, which prompted a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory to hospitals to check CT scan equipment.