[bejuce]

If anyone is interested, the NYT had readers post their comments to the article in this link here - some of them describe additional cases of overdoses, others describe errors, and so forth.

The lesson again for me is that patients always need to either be their own advocates or have other advocates with them. I remember looking at the computer screen at every radiation session and making a mental note of the numbers and settings to pay attention whether anything was out of sorts. Medical mistakes happen all the time - it happened with me - and unfortunately, we cannot always count on the doctors and nurses to correct them.

I had my radiation sessions (5 1/2 weeks) at Stanford, and there were usually 2-3 therapists in the room, never just 1. I was seen by my radiation oncologist every Thursday, and by her resident every Wednesday after the sessions to examine me, my skin, and discuss whatever else was on my mind. Not sure if patients elsewhere get to see their doctor and resident every week but it sure helps to have as much oversight as possible.

I happened to be radiated on a Varian machine (not sure what kind) and literally work right behind their company headquarters in Palo Alto. Maybe I should just invite myself over there one of these days to talk to Varian engineers designing the machines to put all sorts of alarms, interrupts, and so on, to prevent those mistakes from happening. This may sound naive, but hey, we have to try everything to improve our treatment and that of others going through this...