ALBANY - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the widows of five cancer patents who were improperly enrolled in drug experiments at an upstate Veterans Affairs hospital.

U.S. District Court Senior Judge Hon. Thomas McAvoy noted that there was no proof that the veterans, all terminally ill, died prematurely or suffered more from the experimental drugs. He faulted the conduct of the drug studies at Stratton VA Medical Center, but said that under existing law there was no basis for damages to the patients' families.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Goodwin had requested dismissal of the case. In court papers, she argued that while most of the veterans were fraudulently enrolled in drug studies, ineligible because of various medical factors, an oncologist who reviewed the VA data concluded that some tumors shrank and some patients probably lived longer. There was no proof that they would have done better with standard chemotherapy, she said.

In 2005, researcher Paul Kornak, who admitted forging medical records at the hospital from 1999 to 2003 to make dozens of patients eligible to participate in drug studies, was sentenced to 71 months in federal prison for mail fraud, making a false statement, and criminally negligent homicide in the 2001 death of Air Force veteran James DiGeorgio, 71.

DiGeorgio died a few weeks after participating in a drug-research program for stomach cancer, though he suffered from impaired liver and kidney function that would have disqualified him, prosecutors said.

Kornak was fired in January 2003 along with his boss, Dr. James Holland, a cancer specialist. Earlier this year, Holland pleaded guilty in federal court to a misdemeanor for failing to keep accurate case histories on patients in drug studies. He awaits sentencing.

The 2003 indictment said Stratton was paid thousands of dollars for each patient enrolled in drug trials involving drug companies testing novel drugs on cancer patients, a necessary step in trying to get government approval of drugs.

Kornak's arrest sparked a nationwide review of practices at VA hospitals. In 2003, a General Accounting Office report discovered gaps in human clinical trials conducted at VA research centers across the country, including inadequate policies and training to protect volunteers from abuse.

Stratton officials say the institution strengthened its hiring methods, research practices and oversight activities since Kornak's arrest. They initiated investigations in 2002 after noticing irregularities in the program.

A civil suit by DiGeorgio's widow was settled last December for $500,000, the Times Union of Albany reported.

The suit by five other widows claiming negligence, wrongful death and loss of dignity was dismissed Dec. 11. Attorney Alan Milstein said they are considering an appeal.