Doctor in VA cancer probe admits errors

June 30, 2009|Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - A doctor accused of botching dozens of prostate cancer surgeries at a Veterans Administration hospital admitted yesterday that he sometimes missed his target when implanting radioactive seeds, leaving patients with incorrect dosages.

But Dr. Gary D. Kao called the mistakes commonplace in aiming seeds at the walnut-sized prostate, which sits near the bladder and rectum, and he steadfastly refused to become a scapegoat for the scandal at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia.

“Contrary to the allegations that I was a ‘rogue’ physician . . . I always acted in the best interest of the patients in delivering this important treatment,’’ Kao, a radiation oncologist, testified at a Senate field hearing at the hospital, where he worked from 2002 to 2008.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that 92 of 116 men treated in the hospital’s brachytherapy program received incorrect doses of the radiation seeds, often because they landed in nearby organs or surrounding tissue rather than the prostate. Kao performed the majority of the procedures under a VA contract with the University of Pennsylvania, where he was on staff.

Under questioning from Senator Arlen Specter, Kao acknowledged that he never informed patients when he missed the prostate or delivered insufficient doses. Kao, however, said the mistakes did not necessarily amount to substandard care that had to be reported to the NRC or other agencies.

Kao, 45, testified at the hearing voluntarily, albeit with a lawyer at his side. In a lengthy written statement, he said he earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, did his radiation oncology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and has never been sued for malpractice.

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