Patients given wrong radiation

3 July 2007

GHENT – 17 patients treated for brain tumours at the University Hospital in Ghent (UZ Ghent) were reportedly given the wrong dosage of radiation. Nine of them have died. In an initial reaction a spokesperson for the hospital says that the patients died “because their illness had progressed.”

The software that runs the radiation equipment and determines the coordinates for radiation contained an error, says Helga De Keyzer of the UZ. As a result radiation was not administered at the correct point.

“People underwent treatment and were checked by scan after a certain number of weeks. That is when we ascertained the problem,” the hospital says. The particular equipment was in use between December 2005 and September 2006, when the error was discovered, De Keyzer says. “We immediately stopped using it and informed the company. It in turn notified the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC).”

Researchers from the FANC will investigate the situation at the UZ Ghent this week. They will also inspect all other university hospitals that use this technology.

The Brainlab software could be at the root of the problem. Similar problems were uncovered in Epinal, France. Investigation is needed to determine whether the death of the patients can be attributed to technical or material error or the health condition of the patients themselves.

Subject: Belgian news