Radiation Treatment Lawsuit in Hawaii Settled for $15M

The family of a lung cancer patient who suffered injuries after he was exposed to overdoses of radiation has settled a lawsuit for $15 million in compensation. Zacarias Chichioco Jr. received about 2.5 times the appropriate amount of radiation he should have received because of a programming error in software developed and sold by a medical services company, according to the lawsuit. He died May 19, 2011.His family sued Varian Medical Systems Inc. and doctors from the Pacific Cancer Institute in Wailuku, where he received the radiation treatments. The family will receive $1 million from institute founder and president Dr. Bobby Baker and $1 million from institute physician Dr. Daryl Makishi, which is the limit of their insurance policies, the Maui News reported. Chichioco family attorney Michael Tateishi said Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian will pay $13.25 million. The Chichioco family also was represented by Seattle-based Luvera, Barnett, Brindley, Beninger & Cunningham, a law firm with experience in medical device litigation.