Radiation overdose kills teen cancer patient

http://www.newstarget.com/z020824.html

NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published October 19 2006
Radiation overdose kills teen cancer patient
(NewsTarget) A 16-year-old Scottish girl -- who was accidentally given at
least 17 overdoses of radiation at the Beatson Oncology center in Glasgow
during treatment for a brain tumor earlier this year -- died yesterday in
her family's home.
Lisa Norris was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October last year, and
received an initial four-block treatment of chemotherapy at Yorkhill
Hospital before being referred to the Beatson Oncology center for treatment
in January.

When doctors at the Beatson center delivered the news to Lisa that her tumor
was gone following her radiation treatment, they also told her that a human
error had resulted in a severe radiation overdose that had been administered
at least 17 times. The overdoses left Lisa with burns on the back of her
neck and head, and doctors warned that the mistake could cause long-term
brain damage, paralysis and premature death.

Lisa's overdose at the Beatson center -- run by National Health Service
Greater Glasgow and Clyde -- is the subject of an independent investigation
that is currently in its final stages. Lisa's death came a few weeks after
she underwent surgery to drain fluid from her brain after her cancer
returned.

Lisa's father, Ken, 51, said he and his wife believe the radiation
overdose -- not the return of her cancer -- was the cause of his daughter's
death. "We remain convinced it was the overdoses that did this, not the
cancer," he said. "She was determined not to give up her fight and she
stayed fighting until the end."

Professor Sir John Arbuthnott, the chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow and
Clyde, said staff at the Beatson Oncology center was "extremely upset" to
hear of Lisa's death.

"I have passed on my condolences to the family on behalf of the whole
organization," said Arbuthnott. "We know this will be a tragic loss for the
Norris family and our staff will do whatever they can to support them at
this difficult time."

Consumer advocate Mike Adams said Lisa's radiation treatments were "toxic,"
and said her death is only one of many caused by such treatments.

"Cancer patients are regularly killed by chemotherapy and radiation
treatments, and even when they survive such treatments, they emerge with
permanent damage to vital organs like the heart, brain, kidneys and liver,"
Adams said. "There is a better way to treat cancer, and it doesn't involve
killing the patient. It's called naturopathic medicine."

Jan Drew wrote:

> http://www.newstarget.com/z020824.html
>
>
> Radiation overdose kills teen cancer patient
> (NewsTarget) A 16-year-old Scottish girl -- who was accidentally given at
> least 17 overdoses of radiation at the Beatson Oncology center in Glasgow
> during treatment for a brain tumor earlier this year -- died yesterday in
> her family's home.
> Lisa Norris was diagnosed with a brain tumor in October last year, and
> received an initial four-block treatment of chemotherapy at Yorkhill
> Hospital before being referred to the Beatson Oncology center for treatment
> in January.
>
> When doctors at the Beatson center delivered the news to Lisa that her tumor
> was gone following her radiation treatment, they also told her that a human
> error had resulted in a severe radiation overdose that had been administered
> at least 17 times. <snip>"Cancer patients are regularly killed by chemotherapy
> and radiation
> treatments, and even when they survive such treatments, they emerge with
> permanent damage to vital organs like the heart, brain, kidneys and liver,"
> Adams said. "There is a better way to treat cancer, and it doesn't involve
> killing the patient. It's called naturopathic medicine."

Obiously this poster has an agenda.
I have collected negative outcomes of conventional treatments, over the years
and they are much fewer than the agenda this poster is suggesting.

I am sorry to hear about this child.
The Beatson is Scotland's largest cancer centre and the second-largest in the
UK.
We're all fallible but this is a very distressing outcome for a young woman in
her situation
It sees 8,000 new patients each year and more than 15,000 courses of
chemotherapy and 6,500 courses of radiotherapy are administered. The centre is
based on three sites in Glasgow. The radiation overdose took place at the
Western Infirmary.
Jenny Whelan, head of support group CancerBACUP Scotland, said that there were
internal checks throughout radiotherapy treatment, given the potentially lethal
consequences if it was wrongly administered.
"The machines are checked very regularly, there are physicists on-site that
calibrate the machines and make sure that they're giving out the dose that has
been prescribed," she said.
"Obviously something has gone badly wrong. We're all fallible but this is a very
distressing outcome for a young woman in her situation. "Incidents like this are
incredibly rare. From a different UK news article.

If you do the math (and I don't have the number of centres who treat with
radiation, in all the world), you'll see that 8,000 patients multiplied by the
number of centres is a whole lot of patients (each year) who did receive
appropriate and safe treatment, many of whom were cured.
10 million cancer survivors in the United States (alone) multiplied by many
other countries.
J

>> Adams said. "There is a better way to treat cancer, and it doesn't
>> involve
>> killing the patient. It's called naturopathic medicine."


>
> Obiously this poster has an agenda.
> I have collected negative outcomes of conventional treatments, over the
> years
> and they are much fewer than the agenda this poster is suggesting.
> "Obviously something has gone badly wrong. We're all fallible but this is
> a very
> distressing outcome for a young woman in her situation. "Incidents like
> this are
> incredibly rare. From a different UK news article.
>
> If you do the math (and I don't have the number of centres who treat with
> radiation, in all the world), you'll see that 8,000 patients multiplied by
> the
> number of centres is a whole lot of patients (each year) who did receive
> appropriate and safe treatment, many of whom were cured.
> 10 million cancer survivors in the United States (alone) multiplied by
> many
> other countries.
> J
>
Well said J
The last sentence by Adams says it all.

Mainstream medicine makes one mistake in god knows how many thousands of
treatments and gets investigated to death.

Naturopathic medicine cures not even one while at the same charging billions
, yes billions, of dollars per year and you don't hear a whisper in the
mainstream press.... and not much anywhere else.

It has always amazed me that the same people who would not hesitate to
return a 2 dollar watch because it doesn't keep good time not only accept
potions costing hundreds of dollars that do nothing without a murmur but
continue to praise them and their peddlars to high heaven.

It is also a little ironic that many of these people berate international
drug companies for 'keeping people sick' and go out and buy vitamins and
other 'natural' medicines which are produced by those very same companies.

Who is being taken for a ride???

MIKE

Prior to my mums death, she spent 3 and a half weeks in one of the Wards
within the Beatson at the Western Infirmary and received a dose of
radiotherapy (probably in the same unit). I watched the news the other night
and they interviewed a lawyer who commented that the first thing to do is
establish whether it was the radiotherapy overdose or the return of the
brain tumour that caused her to pass away. A lot has been written in the
media over here in Scotland about this story and i am sure that all the
facts will come out in due course. In fact the NHS have already been on
record to suggest that it was "human error". What ive seen of this episode
is that Lisa was a very brave young lady who fought all the way and enver
complained, ably supported by her caring family and friends. After she is
laid to rest, the fingers will start to be pointed. If it were my daughter
in this situation, i would of course be angry that someone who should know
better made a mistake and on 17 different occasions. The very best i would
expect to happen is that this can never be allowed to happen again. My wife
is a nurse and tells me that in all cases of administering medication,
treatment etc, everything is checked and checked again before going ahead.
New guidelines for this particular medical unit are going to have to be
drawn up and implemented. But the bottom line is that Lisa is due to be
buried this coming week. For one, despite still coming to terms with my mums
death, my thoughts are with her and her family.

Tom
"Mike Radcliffe" <mikeradcliffenospam@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:45399362$0$24634$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
> >> Adams said. "There is a better way to treat cancer, and it doesn't
> >> involve
> >> killing the patient. It's called naturopathic medicine."
>
>
> >
> > Obiously this poster has an agenda.
> > I have collected negative outcomes of conventional treatments, over the
> > years
> > and they are much fewer than the agenda this poster is suggesting.
> > "Obviously something has gone badly wrong. We're all fallible but this
is
> > a very
> > distressing outcome for a young woman in her situation. "Incidents like
> > this are
> > incredibly rare. From a different UK news article.
> >
> > If you do the math (and I don't have the number of centres who treat
with
> > radiation, in all the world), you'll see that 8,000 patients multiplied
by
> > the
> > number of centres is a whole lot of patients (each year) who did receive
> > appropriate and safe treatment, many of whom were cured.
> > 10 million cancer survivors in the United States (alone) multiplied by
> > many
> > other countries.
> > J
> >
> Well said J
> The last sentence by Adams says it all.
>
> Mainstream medicine makes one mistake in god knows how many thousands of
> treatments and gets investigated to death.
>
> Naturopathic medicine cures not even one while at the same charging
billions
> , yes billions, of dollars per year and you don't hear a whisper in the
> mainstream press.... and not much anywhere else.
>
> It has always amazed me that the same people who would not hesitate to
> return a 2 dollar watch because it doesn't keep good time not only accept
> potions costing hundreds of dollars that do nothing without a murmur but
> continue to praise them and their peddlars to high heaven.
>
> It is also a little ironic that many of these people berate international
> drug companies for 'keeping people sick' and go out and buy vitamins and
> other 'natural' medicines which are produced by those very same companies.
>
> Who is being taken for a ride???
>
> MIKE
>
>
>
>

Mike Radcliffe wrote:

> >> Adams said. "There is a better way to treat cancer, and it doesn't
> >> involve
> >> killing the patient. It's called naturopathic medicine."
>
> >
> > Obiously this poster has an agenda.
> <snip>
> >
> > If you do the math (and I don't have the number of centres who treat with
> > radiation, in all the world), you'll see that 8,000 patients multiplied by
> > the
> > number of centres is a whole lot of patients (each year) who did receive
> > appropriate and safe treatment, many of whom were cured.
> > 10 million cancer survivors in the United States (alone) multiplied by
> > many
> > other countries.
> > J
> >
> Well said J
> The last sentence by Adams says it all.
>
> Mainstream medicine makes one mistake in god knows how many thousands of
> treatments and gets investigated to death.
>
> Naturopathic medicine cures not even one while at the same charging billions
> , yes billions, of dollars per year and you don't hear a whisper in the
> mainstream press.... and not much anywhere else.
>
> It has always amazed me that the same people who would not hesitate to
> return a 2 dollar watch because it doesn't keep good time not only accept
> potions costing hundreds of dollars that do nothing without a murmur but
> continue to praise them and their peddlars to high heaven.
>
> It is also a little ironic that many of these people berate international
> drug companies for 'keeping people sick' and go out and buy vitamins and
> other 'natural' medicines which are produced by those very same companies.

Irony of irony. The man has a "sister" webpage doing and promoting just that.

> Who is being taken for a ride???

People with cancer who believe him or the Google ads - questionable cancer
centres/treatments, on his sister page, (for which he claims no responsibility)
would be taking a short, but expensive ride indeed.
J