Airport Boots Doctor for Refusing 'Radiation Assault'

An eye specialist on his way to treat child patients in Switzerland was escorted out of Britain's Manchester airport by police after refusing a full-body scan. Tony Aguirre declined the scan on both medical and ethical grounds, calling the technology a "radiation assault," reports the Daily Mail. Fliers at the three British airports that have installed the scanners are not offered the dreaded "pat-down" option offered to American travelers who refuse the scan.

"X-rays are known to cause cancer and I think somebody will get cancer from this body scanner whether it's me or someone else," the doctor told officials. The "no scan, no fly" rule "raises the suspicion that perhaps it's more expensive to do a manual search and that's why they are forced to go through an X-ray," he says. The doctor eventually flew to Switzerland from Liverpool airport, which does not have the scanners. (More airport security stories.)