In February 2008 the Cedars-Sinai reset a CT scan machine, more than 200 brain scans on potential stroke patients were performed at eight times the normal dose of radiation, as per the hospital.

Overdoses of radiation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre have been found to be zeroed down to one thing- a mistake the hospital made resetting a CT scanner.

This error was detected in February 2008, when the hospital began using a new protocol for a specialized type of scan used to diagnosed strokes. Doctors said it would give them more useful data to analyze disruptions in the flow of blood to brain tissue.

This implied that resetting the machine to overtake the pre-programmed instructions that came with the scanner during its installation. The dose was eight fold of the radiation that it should have been.

Officials at the renowned Los Angeles hospital said in a written statement that provided no other details about how the error occurred. They said, "There was a misunderstanding about an embedded default setting applied by the machine, as a result, the use of this protocol resulted in a higher than expected amount of radiation".

After the scanner was programmed with the new instructions, the higher dose was essentially locked in and every patient was subject to an overdose who thereafter acme for a scan.

The error was detected only after 18 months after a patient complained of excessive hair loss post-scan.

The hospital made an effort to contact all the 206 people who underwent a scan in that time to inform them about the mistake. They found that 40% of them had suffered patchy hair loss.

Cedars-Senai has said in one of the statements that it has started double-checks when protocols are changed and also ordered an investigation into this incident. nowned Los Angeles hospital said in a written statement that provided no other details about how the error occurred.