TSA did not, however, say that patting down Dorn was inappropriate. Instead, the agency said that Dorn's medical condition "should have triggered a more compassionate response from our officers, such as an offer on our part of private screening.



"During the screening process, if advanced imaging technology detects an anomaly that cannot be cleared, secondary screening is required to ensure the passenger does not have threat items, such as explosives concealed under clothing," the agency said. "In this instance, we should have allowed the passenger to present her medical card after she indicated that she had one. As a result of this occurrence, we will be looking at refreshing some training to use this as a learning opportunity."





The agency said it was working with breast cancer advocacy groups to improve its handle of future situations like Dorn's.In her blog post last week, Dorn said she understood the need for security at airports, but she said her treatment was insensitive."I have been through emotional and physical hell this past year due to breast cancer," she said on her blog post. "The way I was treated by these TSA agents added a s---tload of insult to injury and caused me a great deal of humiliation."



