(WSVN) - Pink is the color for breast cancer awareness month. But this October, some women are seeing red. 7’s Brian Entin investigates.
Dianne Weaver: “I was given this sash, which means the world to me.”
Dianne Weaver is a retired nurse, and she knows how important mammograms are.
She helped her two sisters battle and survive breast cancer.
Dianne Weaver: “I take this very seriously. How couldn’t I? I’m a nurse. Nurses love, nurses give.”
Earlier this month, Dianne showed up to Radiology Express in Deerfield Beach for her mammogram appointment.
But the imaging center was closed.
Dianne Weaver: “Totally dark. They are not answering the phone either.”
Their office upstairs was also locked.
Brian Entin: “You come here pretty much everyday to check it out?”
Dianne Weaver: “Everyday to check it out.”
Dianne made an appointment at a different radiology center, but she still needed the images from her past mammograms at Radiology Express.
She was later able to get in touch with them to get her disc, but says that disc was blank and her new doctor needs it.
Dianne Weaver: “They will compare my year-before imaging with my year-present imaging. With me, I want that done. I have two sisters with breast cancer. I absolutely want to have that done.”
Brian: “You need the disc.”
Dianne Weaver: “I need that disc.”
Dianne is not alone…
Sherry Platt: “I’m very concerned. Because that’s how I find out if I’m okay.”
We found other women also showing up to the closed office.
Brian Entin: “You need your records?”
Sherry Platt: “Yes, I really do. MRI records, especially, and mammogram records. I just left it with them to keep my mammogram records.”
Other doctors in the complex say Radiology Express suddenly closed in the beginning of October.
The owner, Dr. Kaya Colak, did not answer our calls or respond to email.
According to court filings, Dr. Colak is in financial trouble and has declared bankruptcy. A pending lawsuit claims he didn’t pay for a CT scanner.
So Radiology Express was foreclosed on, and is set to be sold next month.
Dianne Weaver: “We women, we have to stick together.”
Sherry Platt: “Yes we do. Yes we do.”
Federal law requires doctors to keep mammogram records for at least five years.
Patients here will be on edge until they can get theirs.
Dianne Weaver: “This is a big deal because no one wants to hear the ‘C word.’ Absolutely no one.”
Brian Entin: “And you need that disc?”
Dianne Weaver: “And I need that disc.”
State law requires doctors give patients their medical records in a “timely manner,” but doesn’t specify a number of days.
Patients having trouble getting their records can file a complaint with the state. For a link that takes you through the process, click here.
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