Radiology review a 'moral obligation': Schryer
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 | 8:18 PM ET
CBC News
Regional Health Authority A is looking for an independent firm to evaluate 30,000 tests done by a New Brunswick radiologist. (CBC)The review of 30,000 tests performed by a New Brunswick radiologist is a "moral obligation," according to Health Minister Mary Schryer.
Schryer said New Brunswick residents should continue to have faith in the health-care system despite another controversy over the accuracy of a physician.
"It's a moral obligation on behalf of the government to make sure that we go through this process," Schryer told CBC News.
Regional Health Authority A is looking for an independent firm of radiologists to evaluate 30,000 tests performed by a New Brunswick radiologist that have come under suspicion.
Dr. Bhagwan Jain, the radiologist at the centre of the controversy, had 332 of his exams reviewed and problems were found with 53 of them; 28 were considered major discrepancies.
The tests that will be re-examined date to 2006. The review is expected to take six months.
Schryer said she was notified about the radiologist's problems last week, but the Health Department and the health authorities involved handled the file properly.
"I feel confident in the RHA. They followed the process, they have bylaws which they follow, they watched it very, very closely," Schryer said.
"They performed some mini-audits in between. So I'm satisfied that they followed the right procedure. Could they have done anything differently? Not according to their bylaws, they followed what they needed to do."
'More serious issues'
Dr. Neil Branch, vice-president of medical affairs for the health authority, said some of the irregularities found in Jain's work were minor.
"The other half of them had more serious issues," Branch said.
"Those are the ones that have been followed up already with their family physicians. They have been contacted to make sure the patients had the appropriate tests repeated or investigations completed even more fully to confirm a diagnosis."
The acceptable error rate in radiology is between three and five per cent, but the radiologist in question has an error rate of about 16 per cent.
"We want to make sure that all patients got appropriate care. So if some things were missed we want to detect things as soon as possible and make sure they do get appropriate care," Branch said.
"And this is our No. 1 priority — to have this done as soon as possible to really reassure patients and make sure they have appropriate care."
Branch acknowledged the review has created anxiety, but said a mistake would not necessarily lead to a misdiagnosis.
"Radiology is only one portion of an investigation," he said. "Physicians are still following up on their patients and could have had other tests to try to confirm their diagnosis.
"But we understand, for patients waiting and the uncertainty, it's very difficult."
The tests that will be reviewed include ultrasounds, chest X-rays, fluoroscopies, venograms, Doppler ultrasounds and mammographies.
Citizens concerned
Jain practised at hospitals in Grand Falls, Saint-Quentin, Plaster Rock, Perth-Andover and Bath but Branch said it's unlikely he will ever work for the region again.
On the streets of Grand Falls — the largest community in the area covered by Jain — some citizens expressed concern about the potential that their tests may be caught in the review.
Ronny Clowes said he has been waiting three weeks for X-rays to come back from his doctor. And the news that a local radiologist is now facing this review is causing him some worry.
"You'd kind of like to think the guy who is going to do an evaluation on you knows what he's doing," Clowes said.
"If there is some questions, I'm kind of worried about that myself. I'm 62 years old and I'd like to stick around for another 20 or 30 if I could."
Clowes said the next time he visits his doctor, he will be asking if his tests were reviewed by Jain.
Parise Cote, a resident of Grand Falls, said she wants to be able to trust the people looking after her health.
"Somebody slipped somewhere. Somebody did something wrong. Somebody didn't do his job," she said. "It's our health that's involved. I can't do anything about it, I put my health in their hands."
The doctor had his privileges revoked from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in September after practising in northwestern New Brunswick for 25 years.
Problems not a threat to patients: review
Concerns about Jain's work surfaced in 2005 and again in 2007. Internal reviews at that time identified some problems but the regional health authority did not see them to be a threat to patients.
Last year, the provincial government held a public inquiry into the work of Dr. Rajgopal Menon, a Miramichi-based pathologist.
Menon worked as a pathologist at the Miramichi Regional Health Authority from 1995 until February 2007, when he was suspended after complaints about incomplete diagnoses and delayed lab results.
The Health Department ordered the formal inquiry into the pathology work at the Miramichi hospital after an independent audit of 227 cases of breast and prostate cancer biopsies from 2004 to 2005 found 18 per cent had incomplete results and three per cent had been misdiagnosed.
Patients with concerns about their radiology exams can call a government-operated toll-free number, 1-877-795-3785, for information.
