"Overdose is overdose": Health Minister

Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan told reporters Thursday the extent of the overdose of radiation given to patients at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre must be seen in its right context. He said an overdose is an overdose

The executive chairman of the centre, Dr Kongsheik Achong Low, called a media conference Thursday to talk about the issue, which became public last week.

He said the centre treated 218 patients between June 2009 and June 2010 and denied that any patients were overdosed at all, saying the misadministration of radiation reached only a few patients and was not enough to cause injury.

He also said the Centre's own investigation showed the calibration on its radiation machine was 13.9 per cent and not the 20 per cent as indicated before.

Khan made it clear that there was an overdose and semantics would not change that. "If you overdose by a large amount or a small amount it's still an overdose," he said. "I'm saying to you that if there's an overdose, there's an overdose. There's more than the dose."

He told reporters that he released the information on the over radiation on the advice of the Attorney General, who asked that the names of the patients remain confidential.

He also supported the PAHO report. "PAHO is an independent consultant, so I just read the report and they have certain things in the report and they encompass all the other reports and recommendations," the minister said.