As more information continues to surface about patients exposed to higher than normal levels of radiation from a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center CT scanner, fear and speculation are turning to talk of lawsuits.

A local Santa Clarita resident, whose name is being withheld due to pending legal action, was exposed to the reported 800 percent increase in radiation during a CT scan in June of this year, and has taken steps toward filing a lawsuit with Owen, Patterson and Owen, a local law firm specializing in personal injury cases.

It’s reported that more than 200 patients were potentially exposed to high levels of radiation while receiving CT scans between February 2008 and some time this year.

In many personal injury cases the goal is to incite change to make the public safer as a result of the lawsuit.

In this case, “the machines themselves, should be and hopefully would be developed or designed so that if there are these kind of mistakes and errors that occur that there would be some kind of warning device,” said Rick Patterson a partner at Owen, Patterson and Owen.

Excess exposure to radiation can lead to a host of problems, including increased risk of developing cancer and in some cases can be fatal.