Bladder Cancer Patient Says TSA Screener Mishandled His Urostomy Bag — Again
- Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:20pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Thomas Sawyer said a TSA agent mishandled his urostomy bag during a recent screening, after a similar incident last year when a pat-down left him soaked in urine.
Back in November The Blaze reported on a bladder cancer patient who said he was soaked in his own urine after an airport security pat-down dislodged his urostomy bag. Thomas Sawyer’s story became national news and the head of the Transportation Security Administration personally called him to apologize for the incident.
Now, Sawyer is saying airport screeners again mishandled him last week when he flew out of Detroit Metro Airport. Sawyer, 62, told the Detroit Free Press a TSA agent patting him down disregarded Sawyer’s warning that he had a urostomy bag underneath his shirt.
“He said, ‘Yeah, I know,’ and he patted me down — he was rough and he squeezed the bag a couple of times,” Sawyer told the Free Press. “The young kid was anything but gentle, and he didn’t ask me if I wanted to be screened privately.”
According to TSA guidelines, passengers with disabilities or medical conditions should be offered private pat-down screenings if the pat-down will require lifting clothing or displaying a covered medical device.
TSA spokesman Jim Fotenos told the Free Press the agency “takes every passenger’s claim seriously. We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding this passenger’s screening to determine if the proper procedures were followed.”
Sawyer said the latest incident left him angry in light of the attention his story received last year. In March, Sawyer went to Washington to speak about TSA screenings and passengers with medical conditions.
“I thought I had really made a difference for people flying with urostomies,” he said. “I’m really angry this time. They can’t be training them properly.”
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gillfish
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 3:20pmthe TSA needs to go and let the airlines do the job .as soon as they became civil servants any one with half a brain knew this was just another useless money pit,with power hungry small minds comes nothing good.
Report Post »roadhog
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 12:24pmThe TSA is Acorn
Report Post »cabnetdude
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 11:11amHow much longer is America going to stand for the Nazi patdowns? Do you say anything? Do you speak out? Are you waiting for the patdowns to begin to see a sporting event? Are you waiting for the patdown and “show me your papers” on our streets? The day is coming soon!
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 2:02amHave you seen Ron Paul take on the TSA, call for privatization: http://url2it.com/gbsp
Look at Rep. Chaffetz take on the lack of security broughten to through the TSA: http://url2it.com/gbsq
Report Post »Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 5:53am“I thought I had really made a difference for people flying with urostomies,” he said. “I’m really angry this time. They can’t be training them properly.”
I hate to break this to you Mr. Sawyer but he was acting exactly as they are all trained. The only time that you will get any kind of VIP treatment is if you are a muslim and you extra nice treatment if they think that you might be a terrorist. As obama is a muslim, to them anyone that is not muslim is a ‘terrorist” to them.
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 10:28am“He was rough and he squeezed the bag a couple of times.”
You‘re lucky it wasn’t your ball bag he was squeezing ….
Report Post »derekcranex
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 10:00pmNext time, squirt it in their face.
Report Post »Teaparty-grammy
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 11:58pmI think people just need to stop flying. I would not fly on a bet these days, unless it was on a privately chartered plane that is not subject to this B.S. When people boycot the airlines and airports and they are going broke all over the country, then maybe somebody will pay attention to our complaints.
This TSA .B.S. is a violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution against unreasonable search and seizure. It isn’t as though it is really making flying any safer. They are forbidden to “offend” Muslims by patting them down–when THEY are te ones most likely to be smuggtling explosives or whatever onto a plane Instead they are groping old ladies and little children and letting the terrorists just waltz right onto the planes unchallenged, so you just KNOW this is NOT about “security”.
But they can‘t do it if you don’t fly, so STOP, already!
Report Post »texanpatriot
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 12:46amI drive from Dallas to New Mexico, a trip of about seven hours, to avoid putting up with these clowns. Well, not clowns; more like buffoons.
I have a titanium shoulder and was molested once even though a pat down is not even required to confirm what I told them. Once over with a wand, maybe?
The first bill in January of 2013 should be to make the TSA history and require that each local airport have a chance to opt out of even having this crowd onsite.
God bless Mr. Sawyer.
Report Post »Redstate
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 9:32amI agree. I’d taken my last flight a few months ago. From now on, if I can’t drive, I don’t go. I won’t have my constitutional guaranteed rights violated by a bunch of cowards aka our government.
Report Post »cobra two
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 7:46pmWe the people have got to put a stop to this! The TSA ( Total Stupid Ass) is a joke. We know it.
Report Post »You know it. They Know it. I will drive, walk, hitch hike, ride a bike or whatever before I ever give
these molesting bastards the satisfaction of sticking their dirty hands down my pants. But my friends
it is only going to get worse. Because we the people are too damned worried about who got booted
off the latest idol show and not what really matters.
R2
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 6:49pmThey are obozos brown shirts, The man should sue the TSA and if nothing else that would really bring them out into the light.
Report Post »Then we need a massive strike against the TSA and just do the opposite of what they say and just walk past them, hell they cannot arrest thousands of people now could they???
calonzap
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:02pmThe TSA should be disbanded. We should go back to the level of security we had pre 9/11/01. The whiners wouldn’t have anything to whine about and if you want to fly, you can take your chances. Everyone would be happy. Then the next time an air carrier is blown out of the air, we can start all over again.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:59pmI agree! Sky Marshalls! However, I’d also arm crew, both cockpit and cabin, and maybe develope a safer firearm for in-flight cabin use, like a paint-ball airgun with chloroform filled spheres capable of damaging a human, but which disintegrate when they hit cabin materials and windows. And, I’d allow any permitted gun owner to declare his/her weapon and bring it on board! The more the merrier! Better to blow some dumbass out of existence, than have to down a whole aircraft to mitigate a hijacking!
Report Post »LolaMae
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 3:11pmWhat about any possible medical complications that could arise because it was ‘displaced’? If a passanger has a medical note confirming the medical device, and he offers to show them, why the hell do they need to pat the man down?
Hell, a friend of mine has metal rods in their back. Not titanium. From now on I guess they will punch him to make sure they are. This is despite the fact he has to carry a note with him be because he will set off metal detectors!
Report Post »psst
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:58pmWe need the TSA.
Report Post »Look how may terrorists they have caught.
Our jails are overflowing w/ them.
One jail alone is filled w/ thousands of colostomy bags waiting to go to trial for trying to sneak substances on board that can be used as weapons to incapacitate the crew and passengers, rendering them unconscious.
I tell you, these Colostomy bag cases are clogging up the court system.
FSM_47
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:11pmSome people will miss your sarcasm :-) We call these Liberal Progressives in love with Big Government
Report Post »temple62
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:52pmWhat is the bounty for taking down a TSA agent? The lady Phoenix Sky Harbor deserves a medal for shoving their crap right back in their face. Between the TSA and “No Child Left Behind”, I really don’t know which event is the dumbest thing Bush ever implemented!
Report Post »FSM_47
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:12pmAnd the stupid administration that took over a couple of years ago has doubled down on it
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:33pmShut them down, shut them down. De-fund TSA (and DHS while your’re at it).
Report Post »ilovethiscountry
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:36pmYes, let the airlines handle security. They have the most to lose!
Report Post »Teaparty-grammy
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 12:03amI think all Federal Marshals and flight crews should be armed with bags of pig blood, and let it be known that they were not afraid to use them. I bet that would put a stop to a lot of this airplane B.S. If Achmed knew he was going to be sprayed with pig blood the minute he got out of line, he might think twice–no 72 virgins for him if he arrived in paradise soaked in pig blood! And after he is sprayed with pig blood, handcuff his a$$ and stuff a porkchop in his mouth for good measure!
Report Post »cmabillm12
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:26pmWhere do they hire these thugs from? What is the standard, ie., education, background( checks),etc. these people ( TSA ) are so arrogant, that they remind me of the Stasi. Close this agency down as they have not proven effective in securing safety. Insults, arrogance, ineptitude, drain on the economy, and producers of nothing, except ******* off the traveling public.
Report Post »LolaMae
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 3:08pmI think these are the ones rejected from Mall Cop school
Report Post »ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 4:08pmOh, just wait until SEIU organizes them! What FUN!
Report Post »KOCHLEFFEL
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:25pmIf I had this problem I would stay home, or make sure at the screening the agent understands my problem. I do not believe anyone purposely squeezes a urine bag, he sounds like a complainer.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 3:46pmDoubt he’s a complainer. They hire people who are dumb as posts for the TSA. All they have to do is follow the asinine directions given fm above. The screeners have “Vacancy” stamped on their foreheads!
Maybe they are even fm that newly “protected” class — recently released felons. Felons know what a “pat down” feels like and are paying back the law abiders for their prison miseries.
Report Post »BelievinginAmerica
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 5:30pmKoch Leffel…why should this man stay at home because of a medical reason? You sound as dumb as Obama himself and ignorant to make such a statement. He has the Liberty and Freedom to go and do whatever his heart disires under the freedom of America. In case you forgot!
TSA and now Customs are all being given the same pill of ignorance sometimes. I like to refer to it as the “Authority Courage”, because without it, they would probably crumble under any real pressure. The feeing of having the “upper hand” gives them the feeling they can’t acheive in their everyday life.
No one wants to go through a demoralizing situation at any cost. Many innocent people have been subjects and believe me, I’d rather have stayed home, but my 30 yr. old brother in laws funeral was a little important than any humiliation I might have to go through. So grow up and get a life, a real life of compassion! Read Galation 6:2
Report Post »felix
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:19pmtheir the same as the NAZI S.S. !!! OUR DICTATORS UNIONIZED ARMY !
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:13pmAnother News Alert from the Blaze. Poop on the floor. Poop in the pants. My poop is being mis-handled?
Report Post »nysparkie
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:14pmOK I was wrong! Pee Pee on the floor…….whatever.
Report Post »BonnieBlueFlag
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:19pmGo away.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:29pmAnd if that were you? It’s bad enough having a urostomy bag, but to be screened in public by someone who totally disregards your privacy? I’d sue the he** out of them and not be satisfied with an apology. It’s not an isolated incident. I can be sympathetic because I have a “covered medical device”….I’m a breast cancer survivor with a prosthetic breast.
Report Post »grannylc
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 8:03pmWere you born an idiot or did you learn to be one in the gov schools?
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:10pmTSA should be privatized. Period. Guess what the prerequisite for a TSA screener is? (besides a clean criminal record..and sometimes I doubt that) A high-school diploma or equivalent. Wow! Just pull anybody looking for a job off the street and you have a bona fida government job!
Report Post »4X4in
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:04pmNothing like havin your poo pushed back where it came from…..
SORRY, I could not resist!
Report Post »Utahcatholic
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:45pmHey Dimwit 4×4,
Your bladder holds urine not poo you dope. Urology is about kidnrys, bladder and urination, not pooing. We bladder cancer patients don’t consider our battle……….“funny”.
At Tom Sawyer(the flyer), I sent you some recommendations after your first TSA episode. I don’t know if you ever saw them, I’ll repeat; 1. On the morning or day of your flight do not drink fluids(especially coffee and tea) or keep it to a minimum. This will keep your urine production down. Wait till you get thru screening then drink to your hearts content. 2. Empty your pouch at the airport just before you go to screening that way it will be empty if you get patted down. 3. Wear a loose fitting but elasticized waistband pair of pants with the waistband right over your stoma. You can adjust to your desired height later. 4. If the TSA pat downer is the slight bit rough, step away and immediately aask for a supervisor. 5. If the supervisor doesn’t help the situation, file a complaint and make a scene. Trust me the public is on your side.
Godspeed and keep traveling, I have my urostomy for 11 years and travel quite a bit and haven’t had a bad episode yet. Some screeners are nice considerate people, not all are jerks although there are too many that are.
Report Post »powhatan
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:54pmwish it leaked all over the tsa dude.
Report Post »Greenwood
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:04pmnudge, nudge, push, shove
Report Post »stevoschmidt
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:53pmWhat the point of our military I forget. But I know why we have DEA, FBI, TSA, FCC, CIA, HSA, state, local, and capital police forces. Because we are a negligent electorate that doesnt hold its elected officials responcible.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:55pmowenko was said to have been driving home from church. It is not clear at this time what caused the car to leave the road, according to the reports.
Jowenko is best known in the 9/11 truth community for appearing in a video that first surfaced in 2006 on a Dutch television news program called, Zembla investigates 9/11 theories.
After being shown the footage of WTC 7 collapsing Jowenko stated “This is a controlled demolition carried out by a team of experts.”
Report Post »proliance
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:03pmtower7femacamp, go troll elsewhere.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:11pm@PROLIANCE is that you input to the Blaze ?
Report Post »can you bring anything interesting or intelligent to this site ?
If you think I am a troll then prove it ?
Please just don’t make a fool of yourself
calling people names or telling them to go home
that is so 1st grade…..
Countrygirl1362
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:52pm“to determine if the proper procedures were followed.”
If the a person is humiliated, sexually abused, treated with disregard for integrity and humanity, degraded and mental abused, yep he was handled with proper procedure.
TSA is not about security it is about conditioning people to do as they are told by “authority figures”.
Report Post »grannylc
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 8:06pmYou are so right.
Report Post »Teaparty-grammy
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 12:13amYou are absolutely right! Considering what a poor job they do of preventing actual terrorists from getting onto planes, it is quite obvious that it is not about security. It is about power and control, and getting people accustomed to having their lives controlled by “authority figures”, just as you said.
Report Post »stevoschmidt
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:49pmWelll i hope we don’t reach a budget agreement, so the TSA can lose its funding! Its time to trim the fat off the federal gov.!
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:55pmwhy was the TSA ever funded to start with ?
911 ???? really ?????
owenko was said to have been driving home from church. It is not clear at this time what caused the car to leave the road, according to the reports.
Jowenko is best known in the 9/11 truth community for appearing in a video that first surfaced in 2006 on a Dutch television news program called, Zembla investigates 9/11 theories.
After being shown the footage of WTC 7 collapsing Jowenko stated “This is a controlled demolition carried out by a team of experts.”
Report Post »http://www.infowars.com/expert-who-concluded-wtc-7-was-a-controlled-demolition-killed-in-car-accident/
tower7femacamp
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:41pmDavid Wu was against going thru the TSA searches and Patriot act
http://nation.foxnews.com/rep-david-wu/2011/01/19/dem-rep-evaded-tsa-security-campaign-airport
Sponsored and Cosponsored Legislation
American Anti-Torture Act of 2009 – Cosponsor
Amends the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to prohibit any person in the custody or control of the United States (under current law, the Department of Defense) from being subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. Makes such prohibition inapplicable with respect to any person in the custody or control of the United States (under current law, the Department of Defense) pursuant to a U.S. criminal or immigration law.
Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007 – Cosponsor
To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance the readiness of the Armed Forces by replacing the current policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces, referred to as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
American Anti-Torture Act of 2007 – Cosponsor
Amends the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to prohibit any person in the custody or control of the United States (under current law, the Department of Defense) from being subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation.
Report Post »Bob Mariner
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:21pmTOWER7
Report Post »You could speak on the subject of the article and quit trying to kidnap the page.
tower7femacamp
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:37pmBOB as I see it I am referencing the TSA and an earlier Blaze story about
David Wu, do you want a description of the man’s Urostomy Bag
or what ? I hope the TSA got crap on their hands hahahah
????really ??
These Stories are so trivial there is some Bad things coming for Americans
and I don’t think we will even be able to post freely by New years 2012
I already see a lot of censorship on the web.
Why Bob ?
are you against my right to try and show people some of the things I think
are important ?
Finally Bob just don’t read my stuff if it bothers you….
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:47pmAnd this relates to this article, how?
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:31pmWhy am I not surprised. This is your wonderful Union training at work. I also thought it was against the law for Federal employees to be unionized. We need to nip this injustice in the bud now. We need to fire any TSA employee who steps over the line.
I have made a pact with myself never to fly again. I will drive if I have to travel. My civil rights are getting violated by these searches and I am sick and tired of cow-towing to the left’s fear mongering tactics.
Report Post »Jack2011
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:28pmWhere is the American for Disabilities Act and lawyers ON THIS?
Report Post »stevoschmidt
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 1:56pmWhen you fight the system in court. You better have alot of money or do it yourself. Everything in the past 200 years is unconstitutional.
Report Post »cmabillm12
Posted on July 23, 2011 at 2:33pmFar too many lawyers.
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