State authorities in New Jersey have charged former Cares Built president and CEO Timothy Telymonde and his father Andrew Telymonde with exposing employees and others to unnecessary radiation in connection with the development of a new digital x-ray system.
In a news release, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said that the Keyport, NJ-based company violated the law during development of a medical digital x-ray detector from November 2000 to April 2003. Administrative penalties and criminal charges have been filed against Timothy Telymonde and Andrew Telymonde, while Cares Built has been hit with administrative penalties.
During the investigation, conducted jointly by the DEP and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), the agencies determined that Timothy and Andrew Telymonde took more than 100 x-rays of 11 individuals as part of the detector-development process. Employees and members of the public were encouraged, and in some cases paid, to have x-ray images taken, according to the release.
The DEP claims that those irradiated included a 19-year-old woman, a 14-year-old boy, a three-year-old girl, and a homeless person, with the 19-year-old scanned as many as 50 times, the agency said. In addition, the x-ray unit was not registered with the DEP, preventing inspectors from ensuring that the unit was in proper working order, the DEP said.
In addition, the DEP said that the company failed to provide required shielding for protection of reproductive organs to some of the individuals it x-rayed. The firm also neglected to provide adequate shielding around the x-ray tube to protect employees who were working in the general area from exposure to radiation, according to the DEP.
"The facility seriously jeopardized the health of employees by failing to monitor and record employees’ radiation exposure levels," the DEP said.
Also, neither defendant was licensed to perform x-rays, nor was the company permitted to perform x-rays on human subjects for non-medical purposes, according to the DEP. New Jersey law prohibits human exposure to x-rays unless ordered by a licensed physician.
The DEP has assessed a total of $724,900 in administrative penalties for all parties involved. Cares Built and Timothy Telymonde were each assessed $319,400 in penalties, while Andrew Telymonde was hit with $86,100 in fines.
In addition to administrative penalties, state authorities are pursuing criminal charges against the Telymondes for violating the state’s Radiation Protection Act. A four-count criminal indictment was returned by the state grand jury against Andrew Telymonde, including three counts of unlawful exposure to unnecessary radiation and one count of unlawful x-raying without a license.
A separate criminal accusation charged Timothy Telymonde with unlawful exposure of unnecessary radiation and unlawful x-raying without a license. As part of a plea bargain, Timothy Telymonde pleaded guilty to the criminal accusation on February 17, with sentencing scheduled for April 2. The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 18 months in state prison and a fine up to $10,000 per count, according to the DEP.
The indictment against Andrew Telymonde was handed to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey on February 23, and the case has been assigned to Monmouth County Superior Court for trial.
A Cares Built spokesperson told AuntMinnie.com that Timothy Telymonde was terminated in February 2003, well before the state investigation began in July, and that Andrew Telymonde never worked for the company.
In a statement, Cares Built said that its board of directors never authorized the action of the Telymondes in exposing human beings to unnecessary radiation. Noting that Cares Built was not the subject of criminal charges in the case, the company also said that the $319,400 civil penalty assessed against it is unduly punitive, and fails to consider the small size of the company and the impact on its 300 shareholders, who are mostly New Jersey residents.
"The penalty assessed against Cares Built is so punitive that it negates the civil label and could be considered a criminal penalty, which violates due process, by not according defendant Cares Built constitutional protections," the company said.
Cares Built said it intends to seek an administrative hearing to contest the charges. It also noted that current management was not involved in the activities of the Telymondes, and sincerely regrets that they occurred. The firm also said that it has cooperated fully with the authorities in the investigations and has taken steps to ensure the company is in full compliance with all state and federal requirements.
In an interview with the Asbury Park Press newspaper, Timothy Telymonde said that the firm took every precaution, used the lowest possible x-ray dosage, and didn’t endanger anyone. According to the article, Telymonde also told the newspaper that 80% of the imaging was performed on his father or himself, and that the 14-year-old boy was a nephew.
"We knew it was safe or we wouldn’t have used the machine on a family member," Telymonde was quoted saying in the article. "No person was x-rayed 50 times, and there was absolutely no three-year-old girl."
He said he had pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to avoid jail time, and now realizes "that was a mistake" and will try to change his plea, according to the article.
By Erik L. Ridley
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
March 3, 2004
Related Reading
State x-ray quality assurance program yields dividends, January 23, 2004
Digital x-ray begins to benefit from economies of scale, December 1, 2002
Cares Built gets clearance for mobile C-arm, April 11, 2001
FDA clears Cares Built mobile x-ray, July 11, 2000
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