The retired clinical director of the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre has admitted that his former employer administered a radiation overdose to patient Ricardo "Smokey" McKenzie during his treatment for brain cancer in 2009.
Dr Peter Bovell, who held the post between 2011 and last year, made the admission before Justice Mira Dean-Armorer in the Port-of-Spain High Court as he testified in the $20 million medical negligence claim filed by McKenzie's wife over his death.
Bovell admitted that between June 2009 and May 2010 the company's Linear Accelerator radiation machine was miscalibrated.
He confessed that the miscalibration was due to the fact that during the period the centre did not have a senior physicist to calibrate the machine and had to rely on a junior member of staff who was not qualified.
While under cross-examination Bovell said of the 223 patients were affected including McKenzie but only 60 per cent of them displayed symptoms of over radiation.
While under cross-examination from McKenzie's attorney Terrence Bharath, Bovell could not say why the issue was left unchecked for almost a year as he was not in charge of the device at the time.
McKenzie is claiming that her husband was exposed to 20 per cent more radiation than prescribed, while the centre is saying that the overdose was no more than 13.9 per cent.
Bovell denied that McKenzie suffered reoccurring radiation necrosis as a result of the overdose as claimed by Dr Roberto Heros, his neurosurgeon from the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, who treated him before his death in December 2010.
He also said that the centre had settled claims with all the patients affected except McKenzie and another.
The trial will continue on October 12 when several expert witnesses in the United States are expected to testify via video conferencing.
The Centre is being represented by Neal Bisnath and Ravi Nanga.