77 Moffitt patients get excess radiation

TAMPA - Seventy-seven patients were exposed to excessive radiation levels for nearly a year because a machine was improperly installed, officials at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute said Friday.
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Inspectors determined the machine gave patients radiation doses 50 percent more powerful than prescribed.

"We at Moffitt take full responsibility for the programming error," Dr. William Dalton, CEO/center director, said in a statement. "I'm sorry and all of us are sorry it happened."
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Because of the serious nature of their conditions, the overexposure was not being blamed for any deaths or side effects observed in other patients, Dalton said.
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Still, he said he and his medical staff were concerned. Radiation was delivered to patients with brain tumors, and side effects to overexposure could include headaches and speech and memory loss. It could take three months to a year for these symptoms to emerge.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/02/Hillsborough/77_Moffitt_patients_g.shtml