In 2005, for example, the NRC proposed a revised definition aimed at reducing the number of implants considered to have errors. Currently, too many dosage deviations that are medically meaningless have to be reported, according to an NRC advisory committee headed by Temple University radiologist Leon Malmud.
So far only a few of the VA's 114 brachytherapy patients have come forward to complain and file liability claims.
Ronald Goans, a radiation-medicine expert hired by the NRC, took a close look at 24 cases -- 10 overdoses and 14 underdoses -- and then asked the patients whether they had any lasting bad effects.
In his December 2008 report, Goans said most of the overdosed patients were doing well and had no evidence of prostate cancer. Three of the underdosed patients had prostate cancer and "were felt to be treatment failures."
Goans was also "very impressed with the current staff" at the VA.
"I would not foresee a recurrence of the situation seen in 2002-2008," he wrote.
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Contact staff writer Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720 or mmccullough@phillynews.com.
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