Donna Lee Jones, a Philadelphia lawyer representing three of the veterans suing in federal court, predicted "there's going to be a battle" with Penn over whether it should be part of the case.
Added her partner, Michael Barrett: "We think there will be plenty of finger-pointing between the VA and Penn. . . . But Penn's fingerprints are all over everything."
Penn Medicine spokeswoman Susan Phillips said Friday that the university could not comment on pending litigation. For the last year, she has said Penn could not discuss the various federal and congressional inquiries that were under way.
Penn, which uses the VA Medical Center as a teaching hospital for its medical students, contracted with the VA to run the prostate-cancer treatment program, called brachytherapy. It involves implanting dozens of tiny radioactive seeds into the prostate gland to kill cancer cells over several months.
Brachytherapy is effective when done properly, but if too many seeds are misplaced, the cancer may be spared, healthy surrounding tissues may be damaged, or both.
Penn assigned radiation oncologist Gary Kao to head the VA brachytherapy program. Kao, who performed most of the improper seed implants, is also named in the federal lawsuits, along with the department. The five veterans who are suing Penn are Richard Mitchell, James Armstrong, John Berry, and Barry Lackro, all of Philadelphia, and Donald Pepper of Smyrna, Del.
Lackro's cancer has recurred and become incurable, while Berry's shows signs of recurrence, according to their court filings. All five men claim to suffer from radiation damage to their bladder, rectum, or other organs, as well as severe emotional distress.
