Portable CD players put hospital patients at risk

coondoggie writes: "According to a new study released today you should be more worried about your portable CD player than cell phones in a hospital situation. And outside of that, those store theft alert systems aren't too good for your health either if you have heart problems. In a letter to the editor published in the journal details the first known case of a portable CD player causing an abnormal electrocardiographic (ECG) recording within a hospital setting. The recording returned to normal when the CD player, which the patient was holding close to the ECG lead, was turned off. So while most hospitals ban cell phone use, few restrict CD players. But they have it backwards apparently as calls made on cell phones have no negative impact on hospital medical devices, dispelling the long-held notion that they are unsafe to use in health care facilities, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1226 9"