Deputy chairman Dr Kongshiek Achong Low spoke at a news conference one week after news that 223 patients were exposed to over radiation at the centre due to calibration discrepancies with the equipment.
Achong Low told reporters information on the controversy had been “deliberately distorted” and named the two former employees.
Achong Low said the centre was saddened by the attempt to bring it into disrepute by “all of the misinformation” circulating in the public domain and urged the media to take action to alleviate the “trauma and absolute distress” which patients have faced since last week.
It was Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan who announced last week Wednesday that the problems with the equipment exposed the cancer patients to excess radiation. He said the finding was based on an independent report conducted by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
“In September 2010, the PAHO radiation protection and safety team investigated a miscalibration and concluded that there was a miscalibration of a linear accelerator over a period of approximately 12 months ranging from approximately four per cent to 20 per cent of over-radiation,” the minister reported last week.
Achong Low said the centre treated 218 patients in the period and not 223.
He said: “Immediately upon receiving information that there was a possible misadministration of radiation dosages the centre acted right away to recall, review, consult and counsel every single one of the patients within a span of time from June 2009 to June 2010.”
He said the Ministry of Health advised officials at the centre not to "disclose or release the report provided by PAHO to the ministry" so the centre was surprised when the health minister made the revelations.
The official added, “The PAHO report and the subsequent assessment and findings by five physicists, and corroborating standards established by international agencies and accredited institutions, show clearly that at no time was there any misadministration or indeed overexposure of radiation to patients.”
Clinical director at the centre and radiation oncologist Dr Peter Bovell told reporters there was never a misadministration at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre, noting that "misadministration" involved the "wrong patient, wrong treatment modality and a difference in dosages–more than 20 per cent than the prescribed dose."
He said the maximum dosages at the centre never reached close to 20 per cent. Asked about that Thursday, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said, "An overdose is an overdose".
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