Patient Says N.L. Health Board Didn’t Tell Her Test Result Was Wrong
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – A woman testifying at a public inquiry into botched breast cancer tests in Newfoundland says doctors didn’t tell her that her test was later found to be inaccurate.
On the opening day of the inquiry, Beverly Green says the Eastern Health authority didn’t inform her that her test was sent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and later found to be flawed.
Green, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2001, said Wednesday she was “very angry and very disappointed” that Eastern Health didn’t inform her of the changed test result.
“I know I have a disease that’s probably going to destroy my life at some time,” Green, 45, told commission counsel Sandra Chaytor.
“But the way this was handled, it was just unforgivable.”
The probe is focusing on hormone receptor tests, which are critical because they can help determine the course of treatment for a breast cancer patient.
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.
Green, wearing a knitted cap, said she underwent chemotherapy and radiation for her breast cancer after she was diagnosed.
The probe, headed by provincial Supreme Court Justice Margaret Cameron, will examine why nearly 400 patients were given inaccurate results on their breast cancer tests.
It will also examine why the errors went undetected for eight years, and whether the Eastern Health authority responded to patients and the public in an appropriate and timely manner.
The province revealed Tuesday that 108 of the almost 400 patients whose tests were misread have since died, though it may never be known how many of them, if any, died as a result of missing out on treatment.
Justice Cameron won’t make any conclusions about civil or criminal responsibility.
The provincial government has requested the inquiry deliver a final report by July 30.