Barry Dyer testified his views about problems with lab testing were not reflected in what government was later told. (CBC)

A witness at Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry has testified about how information about what went wrong with testing procedures was changed dramatically by the time a reassuring message was passed on to government officials.

Barry Dyer, who manages Eastern Health's pathology lab, told the Cameron inquiry on Wednesday that he was asked in November 2005 to help answer questions sent from the office of then health minister John Ottenheimer about "how there could be inaccurate tests for a period of five years without being detected."

Ottenheimer's office also wanted assurances that the problems with hormone receptor testing — which are used to guide treatment for breast cancer patients — were not reflected elsewhere in the health-care system.

"Those were big questions and I wasn't sure if I was qualified to answer something like that," Dyer told Justice Margaret Cameron, who has been hearing evidence since March on how hundreds of breast cancer patients received inaccurate tests, depriving most of an opportunity to be prescribed the antihormonal therapy Tamoxifen.

In order to answer government's request, Dyer said he "tracked down" pathologist Dr. Dan Fontaine, and discussed the issues with him. Dyer said he believed that Fontaine put together a response, although he's not sure if Fontaine did so in writing.

A few days later, Eastern Health issued a written response saying that it would be impossible to determine the cause of problems in the lab. Dyer said he did not agree with the statement.

By that point, Eastern Health already knew the results of two reviews by external experts, who found a myriad of problems in the lab, from high turnover to inadequate training to improper use of procedures.

Dyer testified that he did not actually see those external reviews — which probed problems in his own lab — until earlier this year. However, he said he had a fairly good idea at that time of what the reviews discussed.

As well, inquiry co-counsel Sandra Chaytor suggested the response found that the authority's own quality assurance program identified the problem.

Dyer said Eastern Health's response did not reflect his view.

"My interpretation was from a patient's chart being sent away for a second opinion," testified Dyer, who said the substance of the written response did not reflect what he and Fontaine had discussed.

The inquiry has already been told that Eastern Health officials learned of problems with the hormone receptor testing program in May 2005, after patient Peggy Deane sought a second opinion on her test results in a U.S. hospital. Deane subsequently died.