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VA Hospital Botched Cancer Treatments

AP
posted: 8 HOURS 27 MINUTES AGO
comments: 156
filed under: Health News, National News
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PHILADELPHIA (June 22) - Ninety-two veterans were given incorrect radiation doses in a common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer during a six-year period at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, according to newspaper reports Sunday.
A hospital team that performed the procedure botched it on 92 of 116 occasions and continued the treatment for a year even though monitoring equipment was broken, said The New York Times, which characterized the center as a "rogue cancer unit" in its report. The Philadelphia Inquirer said treatment errors occurred in 92 of 114 cases.
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Matt Rourke, AP

Several staff members and an oncologist who were involved in the treatment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia are no longer employed at the hospital.

The cases involved brachytherapy, in which implanted radioactive seeds are used to kill cancer cells. Most veterans got significantly less than the prescribed dose while others received excessive radiation to nearby tissue and organs.
A federal commission announced last fall that an inspection at the hospital was under way partly because of the number of patients given incorrect radiation doses. The medical center suspended its prostate cancer treatment program as a result of the ongoing investigation.
Investigators found that 57 implants delivered too little radiation to the prostate and 35 cases involved overdoses to other parts of the body, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report published in the Federal Register this month. An unspecified number of patients had both underdoses to the prostate and overdoses in other areas.
All of the affected veterans have received follow-up care, and eight got additional seed implants at a Seattle VA center, according to Dale Warman of the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. Warman said the hospital leadership "takes the ... situation very seriously and has taken every step possible to correct or mitigate the problem."
Four of the men have since died, but Warman said none of the deaths was connected to prostate cancer or the treatment.
Several staff members, including oncologist Gary Kao, who was under contract to the VA and was involved in nearly all of the cases, are no longer employed at the hospital. Kao's lawyer, Jack L. Gruenstein, told the Times its account of the doctor's role was "false" but declined to elaborate.
A team from the commission, which oversees such radiation therapy, is scheduled to be in Philadelphia this week to investigate.
"As we have done throughout this process, Philadelphia VA Medical Center staff are prepared to share whatever records and information are necessary to discover what happened, why it happened, and to take steps to prevent it from happening again," Warman said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-06-22 13:11:08

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Marine4224

11:15 PMJun 23 2009

Mr. President Obama and US Congress of The United States please pay close attention to what is happing in our VA Hospitals. We veterans gave it all and some gave there lives for this country,we need for the US Govt. to pay close attention to VA Medical Centers. Please pay attention to what happened in Walter Reed in DC and now in Phila.,PA Va Hospital and what is going on in the Nursing in the Bronx VA Medical Center John J. Peters Va Hospital in the Bronx where Veterans are left in bed with sores because staff doesn't have time to move them and change sheets for Veterans please help our Veterans make sure they the best care possbile they gave it all and some gave there lives.

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KRP2

11:15 PMJun 23 2009

Excuse me but isn't this a form of Government run healthcare? Oh yeah and the VA does ration care if anyone is interested! Just ask many veterans who need MRIs or other expensive tests and treatment!!

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GRANDPOPP

10:52 PMJun 23 2009

Nothing's changed. The VA is incompetent and out to screw every vet it can.

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Delc1933

10:32 PMJun 23 2009

The VA hospital botched 92 of 114 cases involving treatment for prostate cancer. That is a failure rate of 80%; brought about by following the policies of the federal government. If this is representative of the health care success rate already earned by the federal government, imagine how bad it will be as the federal government becomes more involved with your health treatment.

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llylilylonely

10:28 PMJun 23 2009

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LarryDBarton

10:11 PMJun 23 2009

I am blessed to receive my health care at the Wichita Falls, Tx and Oklahoma City VA and have been treated with complete respect and professionalism. These folks are understaffed but they do the best they can with their limited resources. Is it perfect? No. Is any treatment perfect? Probably not. I honestly believe that the care I receive would be better than any national health plan from the research I have done. Thanks again to all VA staff.

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Williswater

09:40 PMJun 23 2009

as a vet who recieves 100% of his healthcare from the VA I am grateful that my country has backed its commitment to me to insure that my healthcare would be available. the VA is severely under staffed and under funded and is what all of americas healthcare will look like under president obama. it takes months to be seen and then you run the risk of inadequete care. may god have mercy on america

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Bocavert

08:38 PMJun 23 2009

i can only relate to my experiences; private cardiologists wanted to do surgery, VA monitored me for years, only a birth defect . I caught Pneumonia 3 times last year, It took a VA third world doctor to treat me accurately. Some VA clinics and hospitals are over run by patients, but I find the doctors are caring and extra careful. Not subject to financial motives for unnecessary treatments.I trust the VA system worlds better than my HMO or a PPO.

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RichardsLMC

08:28 PMJun 23 2009

The Va healthcare system developed this procedure. It saved my life. I had prostrate cancer and it was throughout my lymph system. I survived and 13 others in our test group of 16 didn't. That's life. The other two guys with me met at the bar after each treatment and celebrated being alive that day. We continued to work, we had no choice. The others gave up and died. Do not paint the VA sytem as bad just because of this facility. They also saved me a ton of money because at the time I had no health insurance.

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Msj9ms1

08:26 PMJun 23 2009

Socialised medicine in a nutshell: Take a blank sheet of paper.... Print on one side please turn over..... Take the blank sheet of paper to the receptionist & tell her that it makes no sense.... take a number (and some attitude). Get to the front of the queue and present shee of paper (blank) and be told that it is a blank sheet of paper.... You must go back and get a non-blank sheet of paper.... THEN YOU FALL DOWN A BLOODY RABBIT HOLE & THE QUEEN OF HEARTS EATS ALL YOUR TARTS!!!!!! Welcome to Obamacare......

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