On May 5, 2008, a public inquiry began to determine if breast and prostate cancer tests were routinely misdiagnosed at a hospital in eastern New Brunswick and, if so, how to prevent a recurrence.

Meanwhile, more than 23,000 patients are anxiously waiting to find out their test results for a second time.

Why was the inquiry called?

In February 2008, following a public complaint and a letter from provincial regulators, officials at Miramichi Regional Health Authority organized an independent audit of 227 breast and prostate cancer tests performed at the facility in 2004 and 2005. The audit found that 18 per cent had incomplete results and three per cent were misdiagnosed.

Problem cases included incomplete protocols or examinations, miscalculations in the stage of cancer and undetected cancer. N.B. Health Minister Mike Murphy immediately called a public inquiry.

What is the primary focus?

The audit was conducted after patients and peers raised concerns about the capabilities of Dr. Rajgopal Menon, 73, who worked as a pathologist at the Miramichi hospital from 1995 to 2007. New Brunswick's College of Physicians and Surgeons suspended Menon on Feb. 6, 2007 after receiving complaints from patients about incomplete diagnoses and delayed lab results. Until that point, he had been practising medicine for 45 years.

Peer review of Menon's case revealed that he had serious medical problems that could have affected the accuracy of his work. These included cataracts in both eyes and tremors in his hands.

Menon's licence was reinstated on Nov. 15, 2007, on the condition that he not practise medicine unless he completes remedial training in surgical pathology and convinces the college that he has the competence to return to practice. He is no longer on staff at the Miramichi facility.

In addition to reviewing Menon's work, the inquiry will also examine what hospital staff and government officials knew about what was happening at the health centre in order to determine how the situation was allowed to continue as long as it did.

The commission is headed by Justice Paul Creaghan, who has been a member of the N.B. Court of Queen's Bench since 1985. Before serving as a judge in Miramichi and Moncton, Creaghan was the province's health minister in 1970 and minister of justice and attorney general from 1974 to 1977.

How many people are affected?

Almost 23,800 cases handled by Menon are being reviewed for error by pathologists at Gamma-Dynacare Medical Laboratories in Ottawa.

These include 23,700 biopsies carried out at Miramichi Regional Health Authority between 1995 and 2007 as well as another 100 performed at Regional Health Authority Four in Edmundston in 2002. Miramichi Regional expects the review to be completed by October 2008.

When will the inquiry be completed?

The commission will hear testimony at the University of Moncton for four weeks in May 2008. In June, it will move to Miramichi, where any of the 227 patients affected by the initial review can testify. The commission will return to Moncton in September for a final four weeks of hearings.

Creaghan will provide the government with a final report and recommendations by Jan. 1, 2009.

The inquiry will not assign civil or criminal responsibility to any person or organization. However, the findings may well affect negotiations in a separate class-action lawsuit that has been launched by patients claiming to be misdiagnosed.