FREDERICTON - A suspended New Brunswick pathologist responsible for 15,000 medical tests that must be reviewed or redone due to concerns about their accuracy could face possible criminal charges.
Health Minister Mike Murphy said Monday the RCMP will be asked to determine if there was criminal negligence in the doctor's handling of the tests, which have sent shockwaves through New Brunswick's medical establishment.
"It's as serious as it gets," a sombre Murphy told a news conference in Fredericton.
"It is very difficult to speculate as to whether anyone has lost their life, but it would not be unlikely. ... We do know of a number of cases where he (the unnamed pathologist) completely missed the diagnosis and rendered it benign when in fact it was malignant."
Many of the tests involved biopsies for breast and prostate cancers. Almost all of the people affected live in the city of Miramichi in northeastern New Brunswick. About 100 others are in Edmundston, in the province's northwest.
Murphy didn't name the pathologist, but confirmed the doctor has been suspended from practice for just over a year.
It is the latest case of questionable laboratory work in Atlantic Canada to shake public confidence in Canada's health-care system.
A radiologist at the centre of a health-care scandal in Newfoundland recently quit following a review that found he had missed glaring problems, such as tumours and broken bones.
Murphy said there have been questions and inquiries about the work of the New Brunswick pathologist since his suspension.
The announcement of the reviews follows an independent audit of 227 breast and prostate cancer biopsies examined by the pathologist in 2004-05.
The audit found 18 per cent of the cases had incomplete results and three per cent were misdiagnosed.
The review will stretch back to 1995.
"The people of the Miramichi will be living some dark moments in the next while," Murphy said. "These are difficult times."
The minister confirmed many people will have to be physically re-examined by their doctors. Specimens used for testing are supposed to be kept for 10 years, and it remains unclear what proportion of those specimens are still viable.
Meanwhile, the government is trying to identify additional pathologists and laboratories in Canada and the United States that can assist with the re-examination .
The Health Department has set up a toll free number (1-866-577-5901) that will be active as of Tuesday for people looking for more information.
Murphy also announced several steps aimed at restoring public confidence in the province's medical system, including appointing a judge to make recommendations to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.
Murphy also made it clear he is unhappy with the response of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, which he said moved too slowly in dealing with the suspended pathologist.
He has asked the governing body to submit a plan within 30 days to address issues related to transparency, expedited hearings and information sharing related to complaints against physicians.
He said if the College does not move quickly to address these issues, he will bring in legislation forcing it to make changes.
