Experts call for national pathology standards to protect patients
Last Updated: Monday, March 17, 2008 | 5:18 PM ET
CBC News
A looming judicial inquiry into how over 300 Newfoundland breast cancer patients received erroneous pathology results — and subsequent inappropriate medical treatment — is spawning calls for the development of national standards that would protect patients from such mistakes.
The medical errors made by Eastern Health authority were discovered in 2005 and led to the restesting of the results of thousands of patients.
Dr. Avri Ostry, a pathologist with Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, told CBC News Monday that pathologists are facing numerous challenges. These include a rapidly expanding workload along with ever-developing technology that requires constant retraining.
"I believe it is indicative of an issue that is certainly national — and that has to do with quality assurance and quality control across the spectrum in laboratory medicine," he said.
Medical experts are calling for national standards that would protect patients from lab errors. "We need to have a focused review of pathology and laboratory services in health care because this is the diagnostic heart of our health-care system," said Dr. Andrew Padmos, chief executive officer of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.
"With such a review, I think we can pinpoint areas where we can innovate, areas where we can consolidate and areas where we can make amends for the lack of investment that has taken place over the last 20 or more years."
But Ostry feels that national standards would be tricky to implement as they would apply to both large academic centres as well as smaller community medical centres. "I'm not sure we could apply the same set of standards to both of them," he said.
He also says that retesting results — in which another pathologist double checks a colleague's findings —isn't always feasible either. He says in smaller centres or in labs where understaffing is chronic, there is no way to provide the necessary expertise to offer a second opinion.
The inquiry, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been delayed because of bad weather.
