ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - An exchange of emails entered as evidence at a public inquiry Monday show that top advisers in the office of Premier Danny Williams were told about problems with breast cancer testing in Newfoundland months before the public became aware of the matter.
The emails between high-ranking civil servants show the premier's communications director Elizabeth Matthews and chief of staff Brian Crawley were told of the problems on July 19, 2005 -- three months before a local media outlet broke the story.
The emails reveal the province was working on a communications strategy to deal with "an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 clients'' whose breast cancer tests had to be redone.
But a subsequent email from the provincial health minister's office said no response was needed.
"Further to this morning and incoming information this afternoon, no action is required at this time,'' wrote Carolyn Chaplin, who served as director of communications for then-health minister John Ottenheimer.
"No public announcement will be forthcoming this week and there is a possibility that the significance of any announcement will be minimized.''
Ottenheimer, testifying Monday, said he couldn't recall whether a specific communications strategy was being formulated at the time.
"This has to be put in the context ... of an extremely busy department with many, many issues of public concern,'' he said.
Ottenheimer said the email exchange wasn't unusual, and defended them as proof that the provincial government took the issue seriously.
"The suggestion here is something, you know, almost as if there's inappropriate activity taking place,'' he said.
"I'm pleased that they're there because it shows an immediate attention to this issue.''
Last year, Williams told the legislature he first became aware of the faulty tests in October 2005 after a story appeared in an independent weekly newspaper.
The inquiry is examining how 383 breast-cancer patients were given inaccurate results on their tests, and whether the Eastern Health board or any other responsible authorities responded to them and the public in an appropriate and timely manner.
The inquiry is focusing on hormone-receptor tests, which are used by doctors to determine the course of treatment for breast-cancer patients.
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 a range of other treatments, or no treatment at all, depending on the characteristics of the patient's cancer.
Problems with the testing weren't detected until the spring of 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.
