Errors at veteran's hospital reviewed

    A hearing will be held Monday to review a series of errors at the Veterans Administration hosptial in Philadelphia. Medical errors are frequent, and can sometimes be deadly.

    A hearing will be held Monday to review a series of errors at the Veterans Administration hospital in Philadelphia. Medical errors are frequent, and can sometimes be deadly.

    Listen:
    [audio: 090625tmva.mp3]

    A newspaper investigation found 80 percent of the prostate cancer patients received an incorrect dose of radiation at the Philadelphia VA hospital over a six-year period. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Congressman John Adler are holding the hearing to find out why the] medical errors happened and stop them from happening again. Congressman Adler represents South Jersey.

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    Adler: identify the source of the problem and put in place a system for doctors for peer review to make sure for all of the procedures when they appear for any VA clinic for any VA hospital anywhere in the country that they get high quality medical care and not malpractice after malpractice.

    An expert on medical errors says medication errors are the most common, with one error for every patient each day.

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