A woman whose husband died last year after being pulled into an MRI machine while wearing a metal necklace is suing a New York radiology practice, alleging negligence.
Keith McAllister died in July 2025 after he was drawn toward an MRI scanner at Nassau Open MRI in Westbury, Long Island, New York.
The 61-year-old had accompanied his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, who was at the facility for an MRI on her knee. She reportedly asked staff whether her husband could come over to help her get up.
McAllister was wearing a chain necklace said to weigh about 20 pounds, and the scanner’s magnetic force pulled him in.
“He went limp in my arms,” McAllister-Jones recalled to News 12 Long Island at the time. “And this is still pulsating in my brain.”
She also described urgently calling out for assistance after he was pulled toward the machine.
“I was saying, ‘Could you turn off the machine? Call 911. Do something. Turn this damn thing off!’”
McAllister is believed to have suffered multiple heart attacks before he died.
Nassau County Police Department said in a statement: “The male victim was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine which resulted in a medical episode.”
Jones-McAllister has now filed a lawsuit against Nassau Open MRI over her husband’s death, according to court documents obtained by People.
The complaint says she “witnessed and was totally aware through all of her senses” as McAllister sustained fatal injuries during the incident inside the radiology office.
The filing alleges McAllister’s death resulted from the defendant’s “negligent, wanton, reckless and careless acts,” claiming the practice allowed “dangerous, hazardous and/or unsafe conditions to exist” at the facility.
It also alleges the office did not properly warn McAllister to remove the chain before entering the MRI room.
The lawsuit further claims that, following McAllister’s death, Jones-McAllister experienced “severe and serious personal, psychological and emotional injuries to her mind and body.”
She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, described in the complaint as an amount she believes is “fair, adequate and just.”
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