Dangerous x-ray therapy results in deadly cancer
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BLOG #1
Hundreds of people may be dead or dying after being ordered to accept dangerous medical treatment for acne. UWA Clinical Professor David Joseph has described the treatment as dangerous and added "anyone using that therapy today would finish up in court".
Professor Joseph is head of Radiation Oncology at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and an internationally acknowledged authority on the use of radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer. Listen HERE to an MP3 file of a radio interview with Professor Joseph. The interview was hosted by Geoff Hutchison of 720 ABC Mornings, Perth on the 23rd May 2008
Young Australians who joined the armed forces in the 1950's quickly discovered that the Army, Navy and Air Force had a very low tolerance for pimply faced boys and girls. Many were ordered to undergo superficial x-ray therapy. This involved a series of sessions where the skin of the face, neck, chest and back were exposed to radiation bombardment.
An ex-serviceman who spent some years in the RAAF was ordered to take the treatment at the Melbourne clinic of Dr John Conquest. He first underwent the treatment in 1956 and further sessions continued until 1959.
He was 55 years old when he first underwent surgery for a relatively mild skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma. Over 50 benign basal cell carcinoma's have been removed by surgery over the last 15 years leaving his face and body a mass of scars.
In January 2008 the consequences of the dangerous x-ray therapy took a frightening turn for the ex-serviceman. Firstly melanoma cells were discovered during surgery to remove a suspected basal cell carcinoma. Then a few days later the man, who is a non-smoker, was diagnosed with deadly squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. This type of cancer is usually the consequence of smoking.
The man was very surprised when originally diagnosed with skin cancer. As he said "I don't think I have been seriously sunburnt in my life. I have not played out door sport except for the occasional round of golf and have always used clothing and cream against the sun. I have never liked the sun." he concluded.
After some research the man suspected a link between the cancer and the x-ray therapy and finally got the Department of Veterans Affairs to accept responsibility. They then covered medical bills for treatment and travel costs only.
The man again approached the DVA to also accept responsibility for the throat cancer. He has also asked for support and monitoring of his condition because of the possibility of more dangerous malignant tumours appearing in his head and neck.
His requests for review, support and monitoring of his condition have been completely ignored. "I have asked on a number of occasions for medical examination and counselling", he said. "I don't even get a reply. There does not appear to be any established protocol for assessment or review."
"When I first got cancer it took me ages to find the right people to convince the government that it was probably as a result of acne treatment. Then when I got cancer in my larynx they again made it clear that I had to convince them that the x-ray treatment had caused the problem."
"It seems to me that the DVA and the doctors employed by them have failed in a fundamental duty of care in as much as that they either knew or should have known of the risk of me developing other cancers and failed to warn me of the possibility."
"Had I been alerted to the risk of malignant tumour development I could have instituted an appropriate monitoring and management program".
"There might be hundreds of other ex-service men and women in my position. Some may not even be associating today's cancer with the original treatment and certainly it seems the government is not going to tell them. I now feel I have no choice but to publicly warn others and involve solicitors Slater & Gordon", the ex-serviceman concluded.
Thanks to the intercession of Clinical Professor Joseph it now seems probable that at least the medical and travel costs for the treatment of the latest cancer will be covered by the Military Compensation and Rehabilitation Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In reality however this only means travel expenses for journeys over 50kms to the DVA client, as any other treatment costs would probably be covered by Medicare. Even then DVA clients are short changed as claims for using their own vehicles are reimbursed at just $0.47 per kilometre whereas the Australian Taxation Office allows a minimum of $0.58 per kilometre.
Defence Force Welfare Association
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