Monday, February 15, 2010

VA Want Medical Incidents Reports Retracted

Full Article at: Veterans Administration requests retraction of 80 'medical events'


By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Walter F. Roche Jr. is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer can be reached at 412-320-7894 or via e-mail.

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, February 15, 2010


"Veterans Affairs officials are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to retract the VA's reporting of 80 "medical events" stemming from six years of treating veterans with improper radiation doses.

If approved by the NRC, the unprecedented request would eliminate the negative "medical event" categorization for 80 of 97 previously reported cases in which prostate cancer patients were given improper doses of radiation at the VA's Philadelphia facility. NRC officials say they do not recall ever getting a similar request.

Records released by the VA indicate that at least one of the 80 patients was from the Pittsburgh area.

According to the NRC Web site, a "medical event" indicates potential problems in a medical facility's use of radioactive materials. It does not necessarily result in harm to the patient."