Disability Law Claims Blog

VA doctor apologizes for botched prostate procedures

Dr. Gary Kao, a radiation oncologist, testified before a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Monday, and admitted that he misplaced radioactive seeds in patients at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia. Kao, on staff at the University of Pennsylvania, performed the procedures under a contract between the VA and UPenn.

The prostate cancer surgery performed by Kao, involved implantation of radioactive "seeds" near the prostrate. An investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed that 92 of 116 men received incorrect doses of the seeds. The dosage problems were often caused because the seeds landed in organs (such as the gall bladder, or rectum) or tissue near the prostate.

One former patient, Rev. Ricardo Flippin, testified at the hearing and described the pain and suffering he endured for months after the surgery. He was forced to quit his job and spend five months incapacitated in bed in 2005. He sought follow-up medical attention at the VA and was told he likely had hemorrhoids or constipation. Later, a doctor at The Ohio State University gave him a proper diagnosis - radiation burn. An additional surgical procedure was required to correct the problem.

Kao worked at the hospital between 2002 and 2008 and stated that mistakes for this type of procedure are commonplace. He admitted that he did not disclose to patients when he failed to implant a seed correctly. The brachytherapy program at the VA Center in Philadelphia has been suspended. Similar programs exist at 12 other VA medical facilities, but the problems at the VA Center in Philadelphia were far more frequent than at other hospitals in the U.S.

Read the full article on the problems at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia.

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