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Pa. Doc at Center of VA Cancer Probe Admits Errors
(Source: AP)
Associated Press/AP Online
June 30, 2009
Still, Cross noted that the ultimate responsibility for quality control was the VA’s.
“Regardless of any such relationships, regardless of any such contracts, we, the VA, must prevail in having our oversight of this program and any other program,” he said.
The VA and NRC probes are expected to be completed later this summer.
While Penn and the Philadelphia VA hospital are under scrutiny, Kao remains at the center of the storm. Yesterday he made a brief opening statement and took questions from U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), a member of the VA committee, as well as U.S. Reps. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) and John Adler (D., N.J.).
In his written statement, Kao made a 14-point defense maintaining that the entire “multidisciplinary” team administering brachytherapy at the VA was well trained, that he never ordered seeds of the wrong strength, and that “inflammatory statements and actions” were falsely attributed to him.
“Never in my career have I falsified any medical records, and never have I participated in a cover-up,” Kao said yesterday. “Contrary to the allegations that I was a ‘rogue’ physician, there were precise standard operating procedures formulated and a system of monitoring and oversight.”
PhillyXTech
4 months ago
388 comments
I'm sorry to have to A: contradict this doctor, and B: live in and work in the same ciy as he does.
As a radiologic technologist, I will say that no holds barred, no questions, dose does matter. Be it limiting dose in diagnostic radiology to a minimum necessary to create diagnostic quality images, or be it the correct dose to be clinicaly effective in a treatment plan such as was being administered to patients at the VA.
Let's just forget for a second the resounding "here we go again," with what it says for the Philadelphia VA Hospital's quality of care.
As we as technologists, and even radiation therapists fall under the supervision of radiologists and attending physicians, this guy is lying through his grimy yellow teeth to say that he is not responsible. It is in fact HIS responsibility to ensure that all people working under his direction are adhering to what is prescribed, and to make certain that he is prescribing the correct amount.
The point is not that treatments may or may not still have been effective. The point is that he screwed up, and that if in just one single solitary case, the treatment wasn't effective because the dose was incorrect, then he has committed gross malpractice.
This guy needs to lose his liscence.