Hospitals May Face Spot Checks for Infant X-Rays

The state health department is considering spot checks of other hospitals after inspectors found a Brooklyn medical center continued to X-ray premature babies long after it said the practice had been discontinued.

Agency spokeswoman Claudia Hutton told The New York Times regulators suspected similar cases existed at other state hospitals.

The Times says state records show that full-body X-rays on premature babies were done as recently as January at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

The hospital said Tuesday it had addressed the issues raised by regulators.

The hospital previously said it quickly stopped the practice after it was discovered in 2007.

Health officials said the hospital failed to report that babies were over-radiated when only chest exams were ordered.