An investigation has learned up to 70 cancer patients were given an insufficient dosage of chemotherapy at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.
An ABC 7.30 investigation has found the under-dosage began in 2012, but it is only now that St Vincent’s has begun to inform surviving patients and their families.
The blunder was performed by medical oncologist, Dr John Grygiel.
A chemotherapy dose for most head and neck cancer treatments is usually between 200 and 300 milligrams.
But the investigation found Dr Grygiel prescribed the same flat, 100 mg for all patients.
“I think that he felt that the dose he prescribed was genuinely effective and caused less side effects for patients,” Dr Richard Gallagher, the director of cancer services at St Vincent’s, told 7.30.
“(But) I still don’t understand where the mechanism or thought came from.”
“I’m not happy that this has gone on. I freely admit there’s clearly a breakdown in clinical governance.”
ISt Vincent’s said the under-dosage “does not appear to have had any type of significant negative impact on the patients’ outcome”.
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