Why Doctor Reviews By Patients Are Still Pertinent

category: Dafé’s Café - Daily Dose of Medical News, MyDocHub
by Dafé,

When you hear of Dr. Gary D. Kao, the Veterans Affairs (VA) radiation oncology doctor who admitted to sometimes missing his target when implanting radioactive seeds during prostate cancer surgeries, you would understand that had some of the patients posted their comments on a doctor review site, other patients may have asked more questions about brachytherapy, a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancer. Radiation therapy is the use of a type of energy, called ionizing radiation, to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

While Dr. Kao correctly admits that mistakes are commonplace in aiming seeds at the walnut-sized prostate, which sits near the bladder and rectum, the fact that he failed to notify the patients when the radioactive seeds missed the prostate or delivered insufficient doses, was in my opinion unethical. Dr. Kao should have atleast allayed their fears by correctly informing these patients of the likelihood of misplaced radioactive seeds, which could end up in the rectum instead of the prostate gland.

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Why Doctor Reviews By Patients Are Still Pertinent | 30 June 2009, 12:27
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