More than 300 breast cancer patients in Newfoundland and Labrador did not receive proper treatment because of incorrect test results, according to an affidavit filed in the province's Supreme Court.
In 2005, the Eastern Health Authority asked Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital to review 2,000 hormone receptor tests dating back to May 1997, after oncologists found conflicting results in breast tumour samples.
According to the affidavit, signed by the authority's risk management consultant Heather Predham, 763 women were given the tests. Of that number, 317 received the wrong result.
Gerry Rogers was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and lost both of her breasts. She is now one of 47 women pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the health authority because of the tests.
Hormone receptor tests determine if a patient is estrogen- and/or progesterone-positive, in which case they may benefit from hormone therapy like Tamoxifen.
"I was appalled at what happened. I heard about the problem with the pathology through the media and any woman who's had breast cancer, that's how we heard about it," Rogers told CTV's Canada AM.
Rogers indicated she had tried to contact health authorities for over eight months and was not provided with any information regarding her condition through this period. Rogers suggested that doctors were not informed either as her own physician was asking her for information on the matter.
"The other thing that was kind of alarming was in Newfoundland and Labrador, we have the highest mortality rate for women with breast cancer. Is that linked?" Rogers said.
The 47 women launched their lawsuit last year.
Opposition health critic Dwight Ball accused the government of not doing enough to fix problems with the tests or informing the public.
"We think that the public had a right to know," he said. "And we see this government right now with Eastern Health putting the litigation process above the treatments that were necessary."
Peter Dawe of the Canadian Cancer Society, said hormone receptor tests are notoriously complicated. But he still found the number of incorrect results by the authority extremely worrying.
Dawes feels the lawsuit should prompt a wider investigation into how breast cancer testing is handled.
"I think the pressure has to be on the system in each jurisdiction to say this is a problem," Dawe told CTV's Canada AM. "There is going to be a certain error rate in this particular test, that's my understanding. Is everything being done to keep that a bare minimum?"
With a report from NTV News and files from The Canadian Press
