A Hassle At the Border
Next time you visit Canada, don't forget your doctor's note. Travelers who've had recent radiation treatment, like a bone scan or thyroid therapy, could face unexpected hassles when they enter U.S. border checkpoints from Canada and Mexico. They're being pulled over for "secondary inspections," detained while officers search their cars and themselves—adding time to an already lengthy process.
It's all because they've undergone medical procedures with nuclear isotopes, which set off alarms in "radiation portal monitors" installed to foil terrorists who might be smuggling nukes or "dirty bombs." The trouble is, these travelers aren't terrorists—yet they account for the "vast majority" of radiation alarms, along with people transporting tile, kitty litter, granite and bananas, says Erlinda Byrd, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, which operates the sensors.
Worse, NEWSWEEK has learned, is that out of 270 million vehicles examined by the sensors—resulting in 1.5 million alarms—not a single one has turned out to be an actual terrorist threat. According to Homeland Security officials, given permission to speak on the condition of anonymity, the Bush administration began the $300 million radiation-monitoring project in October 2002. It now includes 270 sensors along the Canadian border that screen 83 percent of U.S.-bound passengers, and 350 on the Mexican side that screen 95 percent. (Cargo shipments are screened even more closely.) And though Homeland Security first said results of those screenings were "classified," the anonymous officials later conceded that the total number of terrorists spotted by the scanners is zero.
Which is why Dr. Manuel Brown, a radiologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, has begun issuing doctor's notes to some of his traveling patients, explaining why they might trigger an alarm. He says facilities in his region perform about 100 radiation procedures a day. While the amount of radiation used in less-serious procedures would trigger the alarms for only a day or two, more-serious therapy (like thyroid treatment) can set off alarms for weeks. Remember that on your road trip.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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