108 N.L. cancer patients died since getting wrong test results

On the eve of the public inquiry into faulty hormone receptor tests, the Newfoundland and Labrador government released new numbers Tuesday showing nearly one-quarter of the breast cancer patients who received incorrect results have died.

Health Minister Ross Wiseman said Tuesday that 383 people were given incorrect results from hormone receptor tests. Of those, 108 have since died.

Wiseman said in a press release that it still can't be said that the wrong diagnosis led to their deaths or the progression of cancer, as the hormone receptor test is just one of the factors in determining cancer treatment.

Hormone receptor tests are used to determine the course of treatment that a breast cancer patient will receive, including the drug Tamoxifen, which has been clinically shown to improve a patient's odds of survival.

A public inquiry headed by Justice Margaret Cameron will open on Wednesday with testimony from cancer patients and families of patients affected by the faulty breast-cancer-related tests.

The provincial government ordered the inquiry amid revelations that the error rate of hormone receptor tests in the Eastern Health regional authority was several times higher than thought.