''While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols and one was not conducted in this case,'' the statement read.
''Private screening was requested by the passenger, it was granted and lasted approximately 11 minutes,'' the TSA statement read.'' TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance.''
A review of closed-circuit television at the airport showed that proper procedures during the rest of her screening were followed, Jonathan Allen, a TSA spokesman, said in a statement.
The private screening was not recorded.
Lenore Zimmerman said she was taken to a private room and made to take off her pants and other clothes after she asked to forgo the screening because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator.
Zimmerman, who spends half the year in Long Beach, New York, said she banged her shin during the process and it bled ''like a pig,'' partly because she is on blood-thinning medication. She said an emergency medical technician patched her up, but she was told to see a doctor when she arrived in Florida to make sure the wound didn't get infected.
There are no records indicating medical attention was called on her behalf.
She missed her flight and had to take one two-and-a-half hours later,she said.
Her son Bruce Zimmerman said he'd like to see someone fired, and screeners re-trained after his mother's ordeal.
''My mother is a little old woman. She's not disruptive or uncooperative,''he said Saturday.''I don't understand how this happened.''
