Cameron to deliver breast cancer inquiry report Feb. 28

Justice Margaret Cameron, who oversaw months of testimony on how hundreds of breast cancer patients were given flawed lab test results, will give politicians plenty to read this week.

Cameron will deliver her final report on hormone receptor tests on Saturday, Health Minister Ross Wiseman said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon.

Wiseman said government intends to release the report publicly on Monday.

Between last March and October, Cameron heard often compelling — and sometimes heartbreaking — testimony about what went wrong between 1997 and 2005, when more than 400 breast cancer patients were erroneously given the wrong results on specific lab tests. The wrong results meant that some patients missed out on receiving potentially lifesaving antihormonal treatment.

Cameron, who sits on the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court (Court of Appeal), also focused on how officials with Eastern Health and the provincial government dealt with lab problems and the hormone receptor testing crisis when it emerged in 2005.

Premier Danny Williams, who issued a public apology to patients and their families while testifying before Cameron in late October, said his government would act quickly on whatever recommendations the commission presented.

Williams called for the commission in 2007, shortly after it emerged that Eastern Health had withheld important information about the hormone receptor tests.

As well, the inquiry learned about how Eastern Health had decided in 2005 to not inform patients or the public about its decision to retest samples taken from patients.

Cameron was told that officials were concerned about litigation, while some physicians were also worried about alarming their patients.

A class action suit has been certified in Newfoundland Supreme Court over the issue.