Lessons from recent accidents in radiation therapy in France

TLDR

Radiotherapy in France has seen numerous accidents, partly driven by a new legal requirement to report significant ionising‑radiation incidents to national safety authorities. The paper examines the causes and consequences of the most serious radiotherapy incidents and derives lessons on preventing technical, human, and organisational failures. The study focuses on technical aspects, particularly dosimetric problems.

Abstract

Many accidents in radiotherapy have been reported in France over the last years. This is due to the recent legal obligation to declare to the national safety authorities any significant incident relative to the use of ionising radiation including medical applications. The causes and consequences of the most serious events in radiotherapy are presented in this paper. Lessons can be learned from possible technical dysfunctions, from human errors or organisational weaknesses as to how such events can be prevented. The technical aspects are addressed here: in particular, dosimetric issues.