Costa Rican deaths

[Sharyn Mathews <rso@neca.com>]

Yesterday, Vince Chase wrote, apparently taking me to task for not freely
providing information to a legitimate question.  It was not my intent to
withhold information, nor to suggest that the only way you might get that
information would be to buy a subscription.  Rather, I assumed that most
radsafers currently subscribe to RSO Magazine, and simply sought to refer
them to the information in a previous issue.

For those who are not subscribers, here is the information as it was printed
in the November-December issue.  Since this is now relatively old
information, I would expect that an update has been issued (but I have no
idea where that update might be found).


Costa Rican Patients Hurt by Radiation Overdoses
San Jose, Costa Rica, Oct 12 (Reuters)
 
Accidental overexposure during radiation treatments at a hospital here has
endangered the lives of 109 cancer patients, a senior medical official said
today.  Alvaro Salas, head of the state Social Security Institute, called
the accident "a national tragedy."  He said the overdose was detected when
the patients, including seven children, suffered unusual diarrhea, skin
infections and inflammation of the mucous membrane in the mouth and stomach
after undergoing radiation treatment in San Juan de Dios hospital.  Mr.
Salas said the accident was caused by an error in calibrating one of the
pumps of radioactive cobalt used in the treatment, which meant the patients
were overexposed to the radioactive material.  They had been urgently called
back for tests by international specialists, he said, adding that the full
impact of the error would not be known until next week.



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Sharyn Mathews
VP-Publications
RSA Publications
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Radiation Protection Management, and
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