The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-01
TO SUE FOR X-RAY INJURY.
MISS MACDONALD, VINO WAsBURNED,
TO SEEK PREPARATION.

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TIE YounE woman stiIl suasripE Great Pain
Hzcr EyesiEht Not Destroy ed-Hsr Hearing
Seriously Acknowledgement. the MAN who
Took tho Picture, says ne wnn Fooled.
Thomas Byrncs of 0 West Forty.ffth street,
tho brother-inlaw Of Miss josie Macdonald,
who was badly burned by Rocntgen rays, has
placed her case in the hands of Sullivan &
Cromwell, lawyers, Of As Wall street, to bring
suit for the recovery of damages for the in.
juries the young woman received. What
course tho litigation shall take has not been
decided, nor can IL be until Miss Macdonald
has recovered sufficiently to make a more
complete statement than sho has been able
to. She has told an incomplete story OF the
affair to Mr.. Byrnes. He has turned Il S
over TO w. J. Curtis of Sullivan & Cromwell,
who has charge Of the case. Miss Mac.
Donold has not been able to stand questioning
or to tell the details. Her condition is still
serious.
Mr.. Byrnes said yesterday afternoon that DIR.
Griswold, his family physician, says that never
In his experience has he seen such terrible
burns. From the top of Miss MacDonald's
head to her waist on tho left side, which was
exposed to the X.rays, the skin is gone COM
pletely and the flesh looks as though 1t had
been roasted. the victim suffers terrible agony
constantly. Although there has been n slight
improvement in her condition. 1t will be sew
eral months before she recovers. The fear that
the sight of her left ego was destroyed APP
pears to have been groundlcss. for the swelling
is still deaf In the left ear. and whether she will
regain her hearing Is a matter Of conjecture;
Byrnes., which Is in the hands of her lawyers.
covers her whole experience with Drs. Shields
and Jernigan, the dentists who took her to NJ.
made. She says that she had been suffering
Intensely. with pain in hcF lstt jaw, and that
suiting a friend, who. said they did every thing
She went TO their office first on June 10. DR..
Shields told her that her case was not an un-
common one, and that he had treated many
like It. He put her into the hands Of his assist
rent TO her jaw for almost an hour. 1t had no
effect. Then her teeth were sounded. Another
patient game in, and she was made to wait an
hour. She went back TO the chair and DR..
Jernigan made a small incision in the gum. He
packed cotton in it. That night the pain made it
impossible for her to sleep. She went to- the
dentists the next morning. They repeated the
treatment. She went back on the following Mon
Dr.. Shields % c tcl Il her she He" Was Ready "" for T the opera
tainted in the chair, and he told her to return
Friday morning as she was leaving her house to
get DIR. Griswold to go TO the DENTISTS office.
met a young woman employed by the dentists.
who said they wanted to see her at once. She
went to their office, and the dentists asked her to
go with them to an X ray studio, where, they
said, they had heard several successful photo
graphs of jaws had been made, She made no
at l2I West Fifty.third street. about j O'Clock.
Miss Macdonald sat down in a chair ready for
the sF Phhotg,E{ TSt ing: HI Her st., stste ia,s IS continues nj H..
O'Connor said 1t was a million volts. One OF
the dentists said to the other that he wouldn't
the thing to LOOK through my face with and
showed.Dr Shields how to hold it, as you would
u glass you look through to magnify photo
Then after a while, when they were used to
the dark room and the y ray, light, they said
jaw. Mr..:o'Connor told Dr., shields that he
saw something dark. DR.. Shields could not
Then Mr.. O'Connor told the dentists that they
had better have a photograph. as that would
surely show eyeryt hin s clearly ~ Then eno a card ard
bandages were wound about my face. l was
nearly ready to faint. as l had not eaten any
thing, Mr.. o'Connor said, and so they wanted
another taken.
office, and said that he would stay there ali day
now that he was there, and see this thing
through. Then DR.. J~ernigan said that he
was put in my mouth to keep it open. I don
believe I could have stood it much longer. Thi:
photograph was satisfactory to DIR. Shields. l,
was after 3 o'clock when l was told that
could go. Two hours attcrward my face wa,
red and swollen and palning me 80 that l wen
to sec DIR. Shields about it. He said to me
You must remember that you were under tina,
light for an hour and a half and 1t acts like g
sunburn. 1t will be all right in a little while
On Friday my face was swollen and my body
burned nearly to the waist. On saturday DIR
Griswold was summoned to attend me-
Il have learned sad Mr.. byrnes yesterday
that all her case needed was the services of
surgeon who could have operated on the jaw
There seems to have been absolutely no neet
for the application of the Mays. One reason
we shall bring suit is to bring to the notice o
thn puhlir the unrest rnlnpd and inUtsI rimiQatl
use of this light. II may bring about SOM
legislation affecting. its use. and SO prevent
others from being injured as my sister ha'
been"
MIR. O'Connor, the X-ray operator, said yes
terday that he supposed the dentists WHIT
practising physicians. He said that he does no
make photographs except for physicians. IL
said that since he opened his laboratory las
October he had taken over 800 photographs
and in only one case had there been any burn
ing. That was n case OF a man whose arm wa
fractured. He was burned slightly, but it die
not amount to much.
Il took particular care to. ~bandaGe, all o
Miss MacDonald's face. and / put a sheet O
cardboard before her." said Mr.. O'Connor
Evidently that was not enough. In the fu
ture / am going to pat n plate OF aluminium
grounded by wires, as suggested by Tesla, be
fore those whom photograph; think thi
DIR. L. y. shields, father of the DIR. Shield
who had Miss ,MacDonald's case. said that i
minor points her story was true. He said
however, that his son used electricity only a
a motive power. and did not send a curren
through the diseased jaw, as Miss Macpor
N-ray was suggested on Thur day btfor
Miss Macdonald went home, and that sh