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Comment by cperciva | Hacker News Reader

Note: MRIs are incredibly safe. Your risk of dying due to an MRI machine exploding is significantly less than your risk of dying due to falling while climbing into the machine.

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You should respect the magnet though. Those warnings aren't there without reason, getting between an MRI or NMR and a magnetic piece of metal is a bad idea

Oh, absolutely. MRI machines are incredibly dangerous if not handled properly. But the overwhelming majority of MRI-related dangers are well understood and avoidable.

Case in point: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/artic...

~~I don't know why this is relevant, and quite frankly I find comment odd. Just because y is safer than z, does not mean we should ignore reasons why z isn't safe.~~

See OP's response for why this is crossed out (assuming HN supports it).

I think it's an important point to reinforce because news stories like this can make patients afraid of MRIs, potentially resulting in them avoiding necessary imaging. Most people on HN are probably not going to make that error -- but I think we have a responsibility to help communicate to the broader community in this regard.

Each man is the architect of his own destiny.

If someone is afraid of MRI machines exploding (I've never met anyone like that), they will need to live with the consequences of that decision.

Of course. But that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile to be clear on what the factual risks are.

Great point, and it makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

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