Family Life

06.30.09 | FL News Team

During a hearing yesterday, a Congressional panel heard from an oncologist at the center of allegations that a radiation treatment known as brachytherapy had allegedly been botched in 92 out of 114 procedures at Philadelphia's Veterans Affairs Medical Center.  Following allegations last week that appeared in "The New York Times," lawmakers are looking into why the Center was accredited after its prostate cancer program was closed last year because of poor quality of care.

Dr. Gary Kao conceded that he "could have done better," added he did not believe the surgeries were botched.  But VA officials have identified Dr. Kao as the physician who performed the majority of surgeries now in question.  During one cancer procedure Dr. Kao was supposed to implant tiny radioactive seeds in the prostate to attack the cancer.  The surgery failed because the majority of seeds, 40 of them, missed the prostate and landed in the patient's healthy bladder.  

The hearings were spearheaded by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who along with other lawmakers, are concerned that more VA facilities could have been accredited by a governing commission whose job is to oversee hospital quality in the U.S.