Employee sues Cabell Huntington Hospital for thyroid cancer

HUNTINGTON -- Cabell Huntington Hospital is being sued by an employee who claims her thyroid cancer was caused by large amounts of radiation exposure over the years.

Jolinda Hall has been employed by the defendant since 1989 as a registered nurse and as worked in the Outpatient Endoscopy Department since 1990, according to a complaint filed Feb. 25 in Cabell Circuit Court.

Hall claims she participated alongside other registered nurses in several procedures that utilized x-ray technology during the course of her employment.

Physicians always wore thyroid shields when performing the various procedures, but the nurses were only given lead aprons, according to the suit.

In March 2008, Hall was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent surgery in June 2008. She claims her physician told her the cancer was related to her exposure to large amounts of radiation in the Endoscopy Department over a period of approximately 15 years.

Hall claims Cabell Huntington Hospital was aware of the dangers posed by prolonged exposure to radiation from 1989 to the present and that physician staff would not perform a procedure without a thyroid shield, but the hospital failed to provide the same equipment for nurses until approximately 2009.

Hall is seeking compensatory damages. She is being represented by Timothy P. Rosinsky and John Cyrus.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge David M. Pancake.

Cabell Circuit Court case number: 10-C-165