Six Massachusetts hospital workers on same floor report getting brain tumours

The number of staff members who have developed brain tumours while working on the same floor of a Boston-area hospital has increased to at least six, according to the facility’s leadership.

A recent statement attributed to the president of Mass General Brigham’s Newton-Wellesley hospital, Ellen Moloney, said the newly reported tumour was benign, as were five previously documented ones. The statement maintained that investigators had not turned up any evidence of environmental risks at the hospital, though their work remained ongoing.

Nonetheless, even before the number of staffers with tumours jumped, a labour union representing nurses at the hospital had pledged to press for answers.

That pledge came after Newton-Wellesley hospital’s leadership initially confirmed that five nurses had reported developing non-cancerous growths in their brains after having worked on the facility’s fifth-floor maternity unit at some point.

An additional half-dozen staff members with experience working on the floor in question reported other health concerns that did not involve brain tumors, Newton-Wellesley officials have said.

The hospital has repeatedly suggested there is no evidence to establish that the situation is anything more than a coincidence.

Moloney alluded to how the hospital had worked internal and governmental occupational offices while also consulting with outside environmental experts. Testing since then has examined the hospital’s water, radiation levels, air quality and other factors.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 April 2025