Miramichi pathology inquiry enters final phase
08.09.2008 17:02
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
The public inquiry into alleged problems in the pathology lab at New Brunswick's Miramichi Regional Hospital enters its third and final phase on Monday. Expert witnesses are scheduled to testify during the 18-day hearing being held at the University of Moncton. Health Minister Mike Murphy called a public inquiry into the lab work conducted at the hospital after an independent audit of 227 cases of breast and prostate cancer biopsies from 2004-05 found 18 per cent had incomplete results and three per cent had been misdiagnosed. More than 23,700 patient cases from the northeastern New Brunswick hospital from 1995 to 2007 are now being reviewed by an Ottawa lab. The audit will also include about 100 carried out for Regional Health Authority 4 in Edmundston, N.B., in 2002. The tests were conducted by now-suspended pathologist Dr. Rajgopal Menon. John Gay is one of the patients who has had to have his test results reviewed after having a biopsy on his left arm at the Miramichi hospital. "They failed me, they failed the whole population here, everyone," Gay told CBC News. The inquiry heard testimony from health officials, affected patients and Menon during its first two phases. Witnesses testifying during the inquiry's final phase will offer opinions on whether or not New Brunswick's pathology laboratories are in need of an overhaul. "You have a lot of individuals that will be able to come in and provide their opinion or views on how the system is working and whether any changes are to be made, and if changes are to be made what they should be," said commission lead counsel Marc-Antoine Chiasson. Chiasson said the inquiry isn't just about Menon's work but the system as a whole. "This is not just about one individual, it's about a system, a hospital, about the Department of Health, who was responsible for what, who should have acted, when they should have acted and so on," Chiasson said. He describes the first two phases of the inquiry as fact-finding sessions designed to find out how pathology tests were misdiagnosed or delayed. Upcoming witnesses will include representatives from the Canadian Association of Pathologists, the New Brunswick Medical Society, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, and medical experts from universities in the United States. Dr. Godfrey Heathcote, a department chief of pathology and laboratory medicine in Nova Scotia, was the inquiry's first witness Monday. Heathcote told the inquiry that small pathology labs are often overworked and don't have enough access to consultation or quality control. Testimony during the phase will help the province find ways to improve the system, said Murphy. "It'll deal with monitoring and about vigilance and about a standard of practice, a failsafe mechanism to protect New Brunswickers from any type of negligence that might be chronic or repeated out there," Murphy said. The inquiry will not assign any legal responsibility for the misdiagnoses. Justice Paul Creaghan is expected to make recommendations to the government by Jan. 1 on how to prevent the level of misdiagnoses from happening again. Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKIN DEPTH: New Brunswick pathology inquiryMain pageMay 2008Miramichi inquiry: FAQsVideo streamingLive video streamLive video feed from the inquiry (when in session)News storiesCoverage from CBC New BrunswickResults provided by GoogleExternal linksInquiry websiteCommission of inquiry into the pathology services at the Miramichi Regional Health Authority RelatedNewfoundland and Labrador hormone testing judicial inquiryMarch 2008Anatomy of N.L. cancer testing scandalApril 2008 Health HeadlinesWeekly diabetes drug provides better blood sugar, spurs weight lossA once-a-week injectable diabetes drug appears to lower blood sugar somewhat better than the same drug injected twice daily, creating promise that the new formulation may be a more useful part of a Type 2 diabetes control regime, a new study suggests.Screening for colorectal cancer recurrence falls short: studyFewer than half of older patients treated for colorectal cancer in the U.S. received the recommended screenings to detect whether the disease has recurred, a new study suggests.Woman with listeriosis dies in N.B.The New Brunswick Health Department has confirmed a woman with listeriosis has died in the province.Short-term reprieve for N.L. gynecologic cancer patients Newfoundland and Labrador's three oncologists who treat gynecological cancers have agreed to stay in the province until December, although one has cast doubts about talks to prevent their departure.Miramichi pathology inquiry enters final phaseThe public inquiry into alleged problems in the pathology lab at New Brunswick's Miramichi Regional Hospital enters its third and final phase on Monday. 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