TSA celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness month by fondling survivor's breasts

Thursday, October 06, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: TSA, breast cancer, health news

(NaturalNews) October is Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) month, which means millions of people and businesses worldwide are now donning pink clothing and those little pink ribbons in support of the massive campaign. But US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at John F. Kennedy airport in New York recently raised awareness in their own unique way by forcing a breast cancer survivor who had recently been through intense surgery to undergo an aggressive and humiliating pat down of her breasts.

TSA agents reportedly pulled aside Lori Dorn, who was on her way to San Francisco, Calif., after the image generated with a naked body scan revealed prostheses in her breasts. Dorn tried to explain to the agents that she had just undergone surgery for breast cancer, and that doctors had placed tissue expanders in her breasts for future reconstruction surgery, but they ignored her.

Not at all concerned with what Dorn had to say, TSA agents insisted that she undergo a breast pat down, or not fly. Dorn petitioned the agents to allow her to retrieve a medical card from her belongings that explained the reality of her bilateral mastectomy, and that contained serial numbers for the prostheses and information about the doctor that put them there, but the agents refused.

"I had no choice but to allow an agent to touch my breasts in front of other passengers," wrote Dorn about the incident on her personal blog. "I have been through emotional and physical hell this past year due to breast cancer. The way I was treated by these TSA agents added insult to injury and caused me a great deal of humiliation."

Dorn went on to explain that TSA agents showed absolutely no compassion or sensitivity regarding her situation, and that they essentially made her a spectacle for everyone else in the security line to witness.

After "tweeting" about the incident on her Twitter page, Dorn says she eventually received a call from an official at JFK that apologized for the fact that "proper policy wasn't followed." TSA also put up a generic "apology" for the situation on its own blog, too, but there has been no word on whether or not the TSA agents involved will be terminated for their actions.

Sources for this article include:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/04/breas...