Flint water crisis victims may need X-rays for compensation, raising health concerns

Medical experts are concerned about Flint residents' exposure to radiation as the water crisis victims try to document lead in their bodies for settlement compensation.

Some Flint, Michigan, residents who may have been affected by lead in their water during the 2014 crisis may now be exposed to radiation in an effort to get a share of the $641.25 million water crisis settlement. Anyone exposed to lead at that time can receive a higher settlement if they submit proof of excessive lead levels, through blood or bone tests, or show evidence of injury, according to court documents. Some attorneys in the case are using portable X-ray devices in an effort to detect excessive levels of lead in claimants' bones, but some health officials and medical experts question whether the use of these machines is unnecessary and poses any unjustifiable risk. "The risk of the treatment or some test that's medically approved has to be less than the benefit," Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, Flint city health adviser and a pediatrician, said in an interview with ABC News. He said the use of radiation outside of medical necessity is unethical, and that the X-ray devices being used were not designed for this purpose. "Why would you subject your child or yourself or a pregnant woman to the risk, no matter how small the radiation, if there's no benefit?" Reynolds said.