American Notes ARIZONA

Debi Lane's nightmare began last November with a routine thyroid test. When she returned for the results the next day, doctors at the Desert Samaritan Hospital in Mesa, Ariz., had chilling news. "There's been a terrible mistake," they told the 41-year-old mother of four. "Basically, we've killed your thyroid."

Instead of a small dose of mildly radioactive iodine, Lane had been treated with a megadose of radiation normally given to patients with thyroid cancer. She spent four days in a hospital isolation ward while her home was scrubbed down. Doctors say she has already contaminated her children.

Hospital officials insist that the misadministered dose was simply human error. They are seeking to have a $14,000 fine reduced or even dismissed. Lane, whose chances of developing cancer could increase more than 4% every year, is fearful about the future. "What if my health insurance gets canceled?" she asks. "What about ((my children's)) college? It looks like I'm not going to be here for them."