Pentagon

  

AP

 - June 29, 2009

Veterans Hospital Doctor Defends Self After Botched Cancer Treatments

Dr. Gary Kao set up the program at a Philadelphia facility that ended up mistreating 92 veterans with incorrect radiation doses.

An oncologist blamed for botching cancer treatments at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center says he's not the rogue physician he's been portrayed to be.

Dr. Gary Kao is testifying at a congressional hearing at the medical center in Philadelphia. He says the prostate cancer treatment, which involves implanting radioactive seeds, "was and still is an evolving field."

According to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report, 92 veterans received incorrect radiation doses at the hospital over a three-year period. Some patients had seeds implanted in the wrong places.

Kao says he was instrumental in setting up the program and never falsified results or covered up mistakes.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a cancer survivor, called Monday's hearing.

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