Lawyers prepare class action for Miramichi patients
Three lawyers from Atlantic Canada are preparing to launch a class action lawsuit against the Miramichi Regional Health Authority over misdiagnoses based on biopsy test results.
Ches Crosbie of St. John's, Ray Wagner of Halifax and George McAllister of Fredericton will organize the class action suit.
Wagner said a statement of claim is expected to be filed within two weeks and that it could cover thousands of individuals.
About 15,000 biopsies are being audited by the health authority after an independent review of 227 cases from 2004-2005 found that 18 per cent had incomplete results and three per cent were misdiagnosed.
The audit will look at tests done on patients at the Miramichi Regional Hospital between 1995 and 2007. It will also re-examine about 100 cases conducted for the Regional Health Authority 4 in Edmundston in 2002.
The health authority has not named the former pathologist who is allegedly connected to the tests, but they are likely referring to Dr. Rajgopal Menon, who filled the position during the period in question.
Menon, 73, was suspended on Feb. 6, 2007, by the College of Physicians and Surgeon of New Brunswick, after complaints of incomplete diagnoses and delayed lab results.
The alleged misdiagnoses are similar to what happened at Eastern Health in Newfoundland, said Wagner.
In 2005 more than 300 patients in Newfoundland were found to have received inaccurate breast cancer test results. That sparked a review of more than 1,000 patient records and a class action suit, which is also represented by Crosbie.
The lawsuit will revolve around a hospital's duty of care to its patients, said Crosbie, and will likely also examine the credentials of the pathologist and the quality assurance systems of the health authority.
The New Brunswick class action will likely include two types of issues, he said: those who have sustained injuries because of the misdiagnoses and those who have suffered distress.
There will be individuals who advanced to more serious stages of illness because of the delays and errors, Crosbie said. There will also be many others who are now suffering a great deal of distress as they wait for the audit to be completed and are questioning their previous results, he said.
"When a disaster of this scope occurs, then they're just going to have to find the resources to ensure that people who've been damaged needlessly get reasonable compensation and resources are made available to make sure that disasters of this nature don't occur in the future," Crosbie said.
Crosbie estimated that former patients currently suffering from mental distress because of the situation could be entitled to about $700. He declined to estimate on how much someone who was misdiagnosed might receive.
The Miramichi Regional Health Authority's primary concern right now is patient care, said CEO Gary Foley.
"It has and continues to be and my focus is getting this process done as quickly as possible so the patients get notified," Foley said.
Successful lawsuits force doctors, hospitals and governments to provide better health care, Wagner said.
"It's a strong stick in behaviour modification," he said. "It's a strong inducement for those people to not do this in the future."
Wagner said the legal team will be meeting with affected patients soon to discuss whether they can sue.