Six nurses of one hospital working on same floor develop brain tumours one after the other

Six staff members of a Massachusetts hospital working on the same floor mysteriously developed brain tumours one after the other. The tumour cases at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital were first reported in early April by the local media outlet WBZ. The hospital started an investigation in December last year and claims there is no “environmental risk” behind the cases.

The affected nurses work on the fifth floor maternity unit of the hospital. The sixth case was announced by the Department of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) at Mass General Brigham, the parent system of Newton-Wellesley.

The probe started when five cases of benign brain tumours started to emerge among the nurses. Patients and families were informed about the sixth case in a letter sent by the OHS, the Boston Herald reported.

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"OHS has identified six staff members who have worked for varying durations on the fifth floor and report developing benign (non-cancerous) brain tumours,” Ellen Moloney, president and COO of Mass General Brigham/Newton-Wellesley Hospital, wrote, according to the Herald.

Massachusetts Nurses Association is still looking into the matter to try and understand what could be the reason behind mass tumours.

Meanwhile, the OHS says it is yet to find a common link between the tumours. “While the OHS investigation is ongoing, we have found no evidence that these medical conditions were caused by the work environment,” the letter stated.

Notably, carcinogenic toxins can often accumulate in a single source accessed by different people and cause brain tumours. 

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Even though hospital authorities have not found a common cause, the hospital staff thinks otherwise. They think that not just these tumours, but other illnesses among staff members can also likely be attributed to the factor that is still a secret.

The Massachusetts Nurse Association told the Herald that it will continue to investigate the matter to reach the root cause of the tumours. It added that the hospital's investigation was not comprehensive and that something seems to be wrong at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

The probe will continue till the end of the month, when the union will make its findings public.