Huge Blunders in NewFoundland, where else?

snowyday

Huge Blunders in NewFoundland, where else?

snowyday

I was misdiagnosed for almost two years and I'm sure alot of us Canucks have heard about this but it is so upseting to read about and makes me wonder where else is this happening. Pearl

inquiry into...

Judicial inquiry into erroneous breast cancer tests begins in Newfoundland

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Sun Mar 16, 3:28 PM

By Tara Brautigam, The Canadian Press

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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Nearly a decade after her doctor found a pea-sized lump on her left breast, Myrtle Lewis is still looking for answers from a Newfoundland health board accused of bungling her breast cancer test.

A judicial inquiry into how more than 300 patients also received erroneous test results begins Tuesday, an exercise Lewis hopes will provide some measure of resolution.

"I've got a lot of questions," said the 61-year-old home-care worker, who had both breasts removed and underwent five months of chemotherapy in 1999 after her cancer diagnosis.

"I battled through that and God only knows what I went through, I tell you."

In the spring of 2006, Lewis heard a report about questionable breast cancer tests while watching the evening news.

She later contacted the Eastern Health authority and was told that hers was among 2,000 tests dating back to May 1997 that were sent to Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital for retesting after oncologists raised questions about their validity.

She says Eastern Health officials told her in July 2006 that her breast cancer wasn't as advanced as she was led to believe when she had her double mastectomy, and that the chemotherapy she was given was unnecessary.

"When he told me that I wasn't going to die of breast cancer because I didn't have it, I only had precancer cells, that's when I broke down," Lewis said.

"It destroyed my life."

Lewis is one of more than 100 patients suing Eastern Health over the botched tests. Eastern Health did not return a message seeking comment.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government ordered the inquiry last May after it was revealed that 317 patients were disqualified from receiving an appropriate course of treatment for their breast cancer because of a faulty test, according to a sworn affidavit signed by an Eastern Health official.

The commission of inquiry will try to determine why there were so many inaccurate test results, why the errors weren't discovered until 2005, whether they could have been detected sooner and whether Eastern Health responded to patients and the public in an appropriate and timely manner.

Justice Margaret Cameron, who will preside over the inquiry, won't make any conclusions about civil or criminal responsibility.

For a year, Eastern Health has been under intense scrutiny over the quality of its service and its willingness to release information to the public.

Last May, former Eastern Health CEO George Tilley apologized for the "confusion" that arose when the board failed to fully disclose results of a review into the flawed tests. He resigned two months later.

Last month, the provincial government said 322 people who had their breast cancer tests redone have died - a death toll almost double what health officials previously thought. At the time, Ross Wiseman, the minister of health, said the findings were "extremely troubling."

It remains unclear how many of the 322 died of their cancer and whether a different treatment could have helped them.

Judy Janes, another breast cancer patient suing Eastern Health, said the extent of the errors has left her dumbfounded.

"I can see them missing a few, because we're all human and human errors are made," Janes said.

"But for them to miss so many? What was their way of testing?"

Janes, a 58-year-old hotel housekeeper, had her right breast removed in December 2001 and underwent chemotherapy for three months. She temporarily lost her hair and often felt sick as a result, she said.

In 2006, Eastern Health told her that she was misdiagnosed and should've been given a different treatment, she said.

"For the health-care system to let us down so bad, somebody's got to be held accountable and give us answers," Janes said from her home in Boswarlos in western Newfoundland.

Breast cancer patients affected by the error-prone tests and relatives of patients who have died are scheduled to be the first to testify.

Part of the inquiry will focus on the efficacy of Eastern Health's laboratory work on hormone receptor testing.

Hormone receptor testing can help determine the course of treatment for a breast cancer patient because, if patients are found to be estrogen-and/or progesterone-positive, they may respond to hormone therapy such as Tamoxifen.

If not, they may be given other treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation.

The provincial government has requested the inquiry to deliver a final report by July 30.

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FEB

For all the bad press the US gets here about our health care system, I think we do have great doctors and methods of diagnosis. One of my friends moved to Toronto 3 years ago because of her husband's job. When she felt a lump, she went in for tests, and was told she had BC. When they told her how long it would take for her to do treatment, she decided to go back to the US for a second opinion. She went to the Mayo clinic in Phoenix, and they determined her tumor was not cancerous. She had it removed immediately and is fine. When I was going through my treatments, she was asking my about how my mammo was done, biopsy, etc. and she felt what I went through was much easier, and faster, than what she had to do in Canada. The US health care system needs a long and hard look, but the last thing we need is for it to be under government control. When you get a bunch of politicians running our medical system, it will be just as bad as the way they are ruining our educational system. Medicine should be run by doctors and schools should be run by educators. I am sick of politicians insisting that they can do a  better job. Anyway, good luck to our Canadian survivors and I hope your government is able to get you better and more timely care.

Sierra

Very sad state indeed



I had a friend in Nfld.

went to visit her a few years

ago. She was a beautiful person

but did not do very well







Sierra (

Beesie

Linda, I for one will take the Canadian medical system over the U.S. system any day.  I've lived in the States and experienced the system there.  And I have family on both sides of the border.  The Canadian system is far from perfect, but I'd rather have a doctor make my treatment decisions than some clerk at an insurance company (a company that makes more profit if treatment requests are rejected).  And I'd rather not be given the runaround and sent for unnecessary tests so that a doctor can maximize his billings (as happened to me in the States and recently happened to a good friend). 

My care in Canada when I was diagnosed with BC was excellent and very timely.  And everything was done (diagnostics tests, biopsies, a 2nd opinion, MRI, mastectomy, reconstruction, symmetry surgery) at no cost to me.

The example from Newfoundland is horrible.  But it is something that could happen anywhere.   The lesson to all of us is that whenever possible, we should get our slides re-read.  Mine were when I went to a different surgeon for a 2nd opinion.  Fortunately for me, the 2nd lab agreed 100% with the reading from the first lab.  But there have been many women on this board - mostly those from the U.S. since more of the women on this board are from the U.S. - who have had their slides reread and who've come out with 2 different opinions.  So let's all recognize that this can happen everywhere.  Wherever we are, we have to take control of our own care and seek those 2nd opinions and rereads of slides, or whatever else we feel is necessary.

dreamwriter

I am a Canadian and am proud of the health system.  I was diagnosed with BC by two different doctors, Dec 20/2005.  I was handed my mammogram films to look at myself.  The surgeon wanted the surgery immediately and explained why.  I had the mastectomy January 11, 2006.  An unrelated CT scan showed the mets 2 weeks later.  It was confirmed by 3 doctors.  A nurse practitioner at another hospital sat down and explained everything in my scans to me.  I had 6 rounds FEC and 18 rounds of Taxotere.  Over the first year I spent about $2,000 in medical costs which I wrote off on my taxes... so really I got away with paying nothing.

I would be so afraid in the US.  They not only expect you to pay exorbitant health fees, accept it when your tests and treatments are not covered and pay for it yourself.  Even Oprah mentioned people going into bankruptcy to pay for medical treatments.

She may think our system is weird.... but it is safer and more available.  We dont have to ask about every xray, worry that the treatment isnt covered, etc.

snowyday

Has anyone read the report card on Cancer in Canada, I posted it a couple of months ago, it was not good at all.  I believe our system here is better than having to pay and am horrified at the stories about people losing their homes because they become ill in the States. 

Anonymous

Awful story....but yes it could happen anywhere, thank God it has been caught. I too am thankful for our system even with some of the drawbacks, I can't imagine paying for all the care etc we need, I'd be in the poor house for sure. Much less stress without the financial worries on top of it all. Besides...if you have the cash you can go where you want if not satisfied.....always an option.

snowyday

Your right crazydaisy, if you have the cash you can go anywhere you want.  I don't have the cash.  It's hard enough just to pay the bills and rent then nutritious food.  I sure wish I had more choices, but didn't have the option. Maybe one day when I can get back to work and make a decent living again. Oh I just want normal so bad, just to come home after a good days work and be work tired, not sick tired.

CameronInquiry

There is a new blog that has just opened up detailing some of this.

It's available at http://www.cameroninquiry.ca

It is a site called: The Cameron Inquiry: An Unofficial Blog

wishiwere

I believe just last year there was a big to-do in the states here about the same thing happening with ER/PR testing. Can't remember where I read or heard it, but it did happen, so it's not just a canadian thing!