N.B. pathologist was 'passive,' with history of absenteeism, inquiry hears

It was surprising to find pathologist  Rajgopal Menon working at the Miramichi Regional Hospital given his track record, an inquiry heard Tuesday.

Jim Wolstenholme, the former CEO of the Miramichi Regional Hospital, testified before a public commission in Moncton on Tuesday.

The public commission is examining how breast and prostate cancer tests resulted in misdiagnoses at the Miramichi Regional Health Authority.

Wolstenholme told the inquiry that when he arrived at the hospital as CEO in 2001, he was "surprised" to find Menon was serving as chief of pathology.

"I had been aware, not in any detail, but I had been aware that there were issues during his earlier practice at other locations in the province," Wolstenholme testified.

Menon was a "passive" department head who didn't provide written reports about the lab, Wolstenholme said.

Menon, 73, worked as a pathologist at the hospital in northeastern New Brunswick from 1995 until February 2007, when he was suspended following complaints about incomplete diagnoses and delayed lab results.

Wolstenholme said Menon's work had problems that included a slow turnaround time for test results, the removal of patient slides from the hospital and absenteeism.

"He was seen in Fredericton on numerous occasions during regular business hours of the hospital by myself and others," Wolstenholme said.

Wolstenholme said he removed Menon as chief pathologist on April 21, 2004.

"My next step was going to be to request the medical advisory committee and the credential committee to ensure that there would be an in-depth review of Dr. Menon's practice," Wolstenholme said.

But before he could do anything else, Wolstenholme said, he was replaced as CEO of at the hospital in May 2004.

Menon remained on the staff until his license was revoked in 2007.

Health Minister Mike Murphy called the public inquiry after an independent audit of 227 cases of breast and prostate cancer biopsies from 2004-05 found 18 per cent had incomplete results and three per cent had been misdiagnosed.

Currently, more than 23,700 patient cases from the eastern New Brunswick hospital from 1995 to 2007 are being reviewed by a lab in Ottawa. The audit of the biopsies will also include about 100 carried out at the Regional Health Authority 4 in Edmundston in 2002, when Menon also worked there.

The commission will be hearing testimony for four weeks at the University of Moncton before going to Miramichi, where any of the 227 patients affected by the initial review can testify in June.

The commission will then return for a final four weeks of hearings in Moncton in September.

The inquiry will not assign civil or criminal responsibility to any person or organization.

By Jan. 1, 2009, former judge Paul Creaghan is to make recommendations to the government on how to prevent an excessive level of misdiagnoses from happening again.