Sat Aug 22, 2009 at 02:00:32 PM EDT
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More troubles at the VA have been revealed with the treatment of patients with cancer:A review has found that six additional veterans received incorrect doses of radiation during prostate cancer treatment at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, raising questions about whether still more cases are yet to be discovered. The VA tried to downplay the additional mistakes, but Congressman Adler and Senator Spector weren't having any of it:The Department of Veterans Affairs, which has two weeks to file a full report, told the NRC that it was "reporting these six additional events to meet a regulatory requirement, not because of any anticipated harm to these patients."
Still, the finding of new cases now raised concerns for some members of Congress.
"Why didn't they discover it sooner?" Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), said in an interview yesterday. "Did they deliberately withhold the information?"
U.S. Rep. John Adler (D., N.J.) said he was frustrated that the VA was still finding additional errors.
"These kind of mistakes are unacceptable, and it's time for the VA to conduct a systemwide review of its practices and programs," Adler said. That's a pretty serious allegation from Specter that they are deliberately withholding information as the investigation is ongoing. With the newly reported cases, that means that 98 men - 86 percent of the total 114 patients - got too much or too little radiation. Congressman Adler has been all over this issue since the news surfaced, participating in hearings and calling for a further look into how these problems could have been allowed to continue. He's also been questioning the explanations the VA has given. |
| Jason Springer :: Adler calls for systemwide review of VA practices and programs |
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