NEW YORK – A breast cancer patient said the TSA at the airport in Los Angeles crossed the line while performing a security check.
Denise Albert said she was making her way through security at LAX on her way home to New York when TSA agents went too far.
Albert, co-founder of media company the Moms, is in the midst of aggressive breast cancer treatment.
She walked through the airport scanner but said TSA agents told her she had to undergo additional screening because of a large bottle of prescription cream she was carrying with her.
On cell phone video recorded by her business partner, she explained to the agents she has a port in her chest. Albert said the agents insisted they had to pat down the area using pressure.
A TSA supervisor eventually intervened and brought Albert to a private area, but only after she said she removed her wig and lifted her shirt to prove she had nothing on her.
She said that after she let the screeners tough her head, one agent forcibly put her hands down the back of Albert’s pants. She said she was in complete shock.
Albert filed a complaint with the TSA but said she is going public with her story so that others traveling with medical conditions don’t experience what she did.
The TSA told Fox 5 that all personnel do receive training on screening passengers with medical conditions.
“TSA is currently looking into the specific details as to what occurred during the screening process to ensure our security protocols were followed,” the TSA said in a statement. “We regret any distress the security screening process may have caused the passenger. We will work with the passenger directly to address her concerns”
Albert said the TSA did call her and apologize.
