Software Can Kill: The Yakima Software Bug
“On Saturday, January 17, 1987, the second patient of the day was to be treated for a carcinoma. This patient was to receive two film verification exposures of 4 and 3 rads plus a 79 rad photon treatment (for a total exposure of 86 rads)... The console displayed ‘beam ready,’ and the operator hit the B key to turn the beam on... the patient...reported ‘feeling a burning sensation’ in his chest. Later in the day, the patient developed a skin burn over the entire treatment area...The patient died in April from complications related to the overdose.” [from N. Leveson: Safeware, pp54-1542].