Breast Cancer Survivor Humiliated by TSA Security Pat-down
Breast Cancer and Double Mastectomy Survivor Lori Dorn Felt Violated by Invasive TSA Chest Pat-down
Photo Credit: Carolina K. Smith, M.D./ShutterShock
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October 4, 2011Breast cancer survivor Lori Dorn felt humiliated and embarrassed during a pat-down by TSA security at JFK Airport last Thursday.The New York business consultant said TSA agents ignored her medical card explaining the prostheses that were implanted after she underwent a double mastectomy, reports New York Daily News."I have been through emotional and physical hell this past year due to breast cancer," Dorn wrote on her Website. "The way I was treated by these TSA agents added a s------- of insult to injury and caused me a great deal of humiliation."Dorn was planning to board a San Francisco bound plane when the Transportation Security Administration full-body scanner detected her prostheses, she said.She was then flagged for a pat-down, but she told the TSA screener she wasn't comfortable with the procedure because of the implants after her double mastectomy. She offered to show prepared documentation about the prostheses, including a card issued by their manufacturer, reports the source.The TSA supervisor told Dorn that she could not go into her carry-on luggage to find the documents."She then said, 'And if we don't clear you, you don't fly' loud enough for other passengers to hear. And they did. And they stared at the bald woman being yelled at by a TSA supervisor," Dorn wrote.TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said TSA "strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect. In this case, that may not have happened."Unfortunately Dorn's documentation would not have spared her from the pat-down but it would have been conducted privately, Farbstein said.The TSA head of security at JRK later reached out to the breast cancer survivor. Dorn wrote on her twitter account yesterday that the official made an apology.With the increase in TSA security including the full-body scan and the pat-downs, the new regulations have not been kind to cancer survivors.Last year a 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor was left crying and covered in his own urine after an enhanced TSA pat-down on November 7, 2010.
The TSA inspector broke the seal of the cancer survivor's urine bag -- which collects urine through an opening in his stomach -- after deliberately ignoring the passenger's warning to be careful.
