Number of Deaths of N.L. Cancer Patients With Faulty Tests Continues to Climb

By Tara Brautigam, THE CANADIAN PRESS

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – More than 300 breast cancer patients in Newfoundland and Labrador who had questionable hormone receptor tests have died, a number that is almost double what health officials previously thought.

Last May, court documents revealed 939 breast cancer patients receiving care from the Eastern Health authority between 1997 and 2005 had to have their hormone receptor tests redone because of questions raised about their validity.

At the time, health officials said 176 of them had died.

But provincial health officials said Friday revised figures show 322 of 1,013 patients in this group have died.

“I find that extremely troubling, obviously,” Health Minister Ross Wiseman told a news conference.

“They’re individuals, they’re families, they’re mothers, they’re daughters, and they’ve all been impacted in a very profound way. Our thoughts are very much with them.”

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

Earlier this week, Eastern Health released two damning external reviews that found the laboratory that processed the breast cancer tests was plagued by a shortage of internal controls and specialized staff, and even lacked reference tools such as medical textbooks.

Eastern Health released the reviews after losing a court battle to keep them confidential.

Friday’s revised death toll came after health-care officials used a more comprehensive database to tally the number of patients who had their hormone receptor tests redone.

“This is the most comprehensive piece of information that we’ve ever had on this issue,” Wiseman said. “Despite saying that . . . there still may be some individuals who we may not have identified.”

Pat Pilgrim, chief operating officer of Eastern Health, admitted there were faults with the authority’s initial record-keeping.

“If we had to do this again, we would do it very differently,” Pilgrim said.

The revelation comes a month before a judicial inquiry is to begin probing how the 322 patients received questionable results on their hormone receptor tests over an eight-year span.

The inquiry, announced last May, will try to determine why there were so many inaccurate test results, why the errors weren’t discovered until 2005 and whether they could have been detected sooner.

“For those people who are living and of course for families of the deceased, there are questions out there that remain,” said Emma Housser, a policy analyst with the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Cancer Society.

“It’s a very sad day,” said Richard Rogers, a lawyer who represents 10 of the more than 100 people who’ve launched a lawsuit against Eastern Health over the botched breast cancer tests.

“It makes me very unhappy and very sad for the people that are being affected by it, and it’s not just the individual of course, it’s their families as well.”

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.

Problems with Eastern Health’s breast cancer testing were first noticed in May 2005 when doctors began questioning the hormone receptor test results of a patient with invasive lobular carcinoma, a form of breast cancer.

After retesting, it was discovered that the initial test result was wrong, as were those for a small sample of other patients. Eastern Health subsequently halted testing in its lab and transferred its hormone receptor tests to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

The health board then started a review of all hormone receptor tests from 1997 to 2005.

Justice Margaret Cameron is to begin hearing evidence at the judicial inquiry March 18.

Health officials also revealed Friday that 35 patients whose tests were redone haven’t been told about that yet, but said they would be contacted over the coming days.

Another nine patients who’ve died were not notified that their tests had been redone.