During my initial consultation with the chief radiation oncologist for my HMO, he mentioned that radiation for breast cancer is now considered “the standard of care” and is an “area where there really isn’t much controversy.”

I asked him for his thoughts on a New York Times article, which I commented on in a blog on January 25, 2010. The article was titled “A Lifesaving Tool Turned Deadly--Radiation Offers Powerful New Cures, and Ways to do Harm.” The Times had reviewed state records in New York from January 2001 to January 2009 and found there were 621 radiation mistakes. Errors included: wrong dose given, wrong patient treated, the beams missed all or part of the intended target. Two horrible deaths that resulted during those years were described in the article. The story reported that New York state has warned medical physicists that an over-reliance on computer programs might be leading to the mistakes.

My radiation oncologist was familiar with the article and called the mistakes “horrifying.” He said, “There’s no way to justify what happened to those poor people in the article. At the same time, to have a mistake like that is exceedingly rare. In my fifteen-year career, I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing happening in the centers I’ve worked with.”

My HMO actually has a rebuttal to the Times article, a copy of which was given me. The rebuttal is a letter penned to the Times by Dr. Tim R. Williams, chairman of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). In fairness, I’m reprinting most of Dr. Williams’ letter here:

“No medical error is acceptable, and the two instances reported in your article on January 24, 2010 . . . are devastating. We regret the suffering the patients and families were forced to endure.

“However, the numbers reported are exceptionally misleading. The story cites 621 radiation mistakes. During that time, we estimate half a million New Yorkers received 13.6 million daily radiation therapy treatments, meaning radiation errors occurred only .0046 percent of the time. We believe your readers should see this context.

“Even one error is too many and ASTRO continuously works to strengthen the radiation oncology safety culture. . .

“All treatments pose risks and patients should discuss them with their doctors. Radiation therapy is a tool no different than a knife in the hands of a surgeon. It should be used only by those with appropriate training and board certification.”