NRC slaps hefty fine on VA hospital

March 17, 2010 at 4:10p.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal agency has fined the Philadelphia VA Medical Center $227,500 stemming from errors in a prostate cancer program that resulted in 97 veterans getting incorrect radiation doses.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the fine announced today is one of the largest it has ever levied against a medical facility.

Medical errors at VA involved the incorrect placement of radioactive iodine seeds to treat prostate cancer. Out of 116 procedures performed between 2002 and 2008, 97 were executed incorrectly.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has 30 days to either pay the proposed fine or challenge it.