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Breast cancer survivor claims improper pat-down by TSA agents
A woman who has breast implants as a result of cancer is criticizing the Transportation Security Administration for patting her down at a New York airport.
New York resident Lori Dorn recently claimed that she was patted down at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Dorn wrote on her blog that even after she told the TSA agents about her condition, her chest was examined by security.
"Yesterday I went through the imaging scanner at JFK Terminal 4 for my Virgin America flight to San Francisco," she wrote. "Evidently they found something, because after the scan, I was asked to step aside to have my breast area examined. I explained to the agent that I was a breast cancer patient and had a bilateral mastectomy in April and had tissue expanders put in to make way for reconstruction at a later date."
"Instead, she called over a female supervisor who told me the exam had to take place," Dorn wrote. "I was again told that I could not retrieve the [medical] card and needed to submit to a physical exam in order to be cleared. 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.
"To my further dismay, my belongings, including my computer, were completely out of sight," she continued. "I had no choice but to allow an agent to touch my breasts in front of other passengers."
Dorn said she understood the need for security at airports, but she said her treatment was insensitive.
"I have been through emotional and physical hell this past year due to breast cancer," she said. "The way I was treated by these TSA agents added a s---tload of insult to injury and caused me a great deal of humiliation."
Several media outlets have reported Dorn's claims.
TSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Hill.
This post was corrected at 4:13 p.m from an earlier version that mispelled Lori Dorn's name.
