Medical physicists say a radiation therapy accident such as the one that affected 28 patients recently in Panama is unlikely to occur in the United States. Last week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is part of the United Nations, released a report that identified human error as the cause of the accident, which led to at least five deaths in Panama.
According to the IAEA, the accident involved 28 patients who received increased radiation exposure during treatment for cancer at Panama City's National Oncology Institute.
The IAEA says technicians in Panama misused treatment planning software, causing the computer to miscalculate the radiation dose, and that none of the Institute personnel double-checked the exposure levels before treatment was started. The IAEA says the Panama patients received anywhere from 20%-100% more radiation than intended.
Experts here say a similar accident is unlikely in the U.S. partly because of the training and experience of U.S. oncologists and medical physicists.
"Radiation oncology in the United States is practiced using a team approach," says Dr. Michael Gillin, a professor of radiation oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The team consists of a radiation oncologist (who is a physician with special training), a medical physicist (a physicist with an advanced degree and postgraduate training in medical physics), medical dosimetrists and radiation oncology technologists.
"The medical physicist is responsible for the technical accuracy of the information generated by the treatment planning system," says Gillin. "Any member of the team can bring safety issues to the attention of the entire team."
Gillin, who is also the Chairman of the Professional Council of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), says another reason that U.S. patients should be reassured is "the emphasis on safety and accuracy which is fostered by scientific and professional societies."
Gillin says that quality assurance measures in the United States for radiation treatment include "a recommendation that a secondary check of dose, usually performed by the medical physicist, helps insure that the treatment time, and therefore the dose, is accurate to within 5%."
Still, Gillin says a patient who is receiving any type of diagnostic or therapeutic procedure should be concerned about the safety and accuracy of the procedure, especially since these treatments are meant for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions.
"In the United States," he says, "the radiation oncology treatment team is composed of a group of highly trained and dedicated professionals." Gillin recommends that patients establish a relationship with their physician and be confident that they are receiving safe and accurate care.
Related websites:
IAEA Panama Accident Report
AAPM Statement on Overdose Accident
[Contact: Rory McGee]
26-Jun-2001
