Not briefed on 'damning' cancer lab reports, ex-minister says

A former Newfoundland and Labrador health minister said Monday he was not told about an external review that highlighted serious deficiencies in a St. John's pathology lab.

As well, John Ottenheimer, who was health minister in 2005 when Eastern Health began investigating flawed breast cancer test results, told a judicial inquiry that he did not raise what he already described as a pressing public health issue with Premier Danny Williams.

"I never discussed this issue with the premier," Ottenheimer told Justice Margaret Cameron.

Ottenheimer also told the inquiry that he did not recall being briefed on a review by Mount Sinai technologist Trish Wegrynowski.

Ottenheimer also said he was never told about a December 2005 letter from breast cancer pathologist Dr. Beverley Carter, who described that review and another as "fairly damning," and who expressed grave reservations about how the lab was organized.

"I would consider that information … would be important to me," Ottenheimer testified Monday, as a judicial inquiry into botched test results reconvened.

Proceedings at the inquiry stopped last Tuesday when a senior Newfoundland and Labrador government official revealed that some correspondence had been overlooked in the original search for documentation.

By the end of the week, the government found about 40 different e-mails and documents not previously disclosed to the commission. A shift from one e-mail system to another was blamed for the oversight.

'This is major': e-mail from government official

Meanwhile, Ottenheimer was shown e-mails from government officials written on the day that Ottenheimer was first briefed on problems at the Eastern Health pathology lab.

The e-mails show a sense of urgency among government officials, with one writing, "This is major."

In one, a communications official said between 1,200 to 1,500 patients may need to be retested.

Ottenheimer, though, could not recall being told those numbers on July 19, 2005, when he was first told of the issue.

The e-mails also show that the chief of staff and communications director in the office of Premier Danny Williams were told of the emerging troubles in the lab.

However, one of the followup notes tells the premier's office that no additional action is required.

Ottenheimer bristled under questioning from inquiry co-counsel Bern Coffey, who pressed him on his memory of things.

"The suggestion here is something … almost as if there's inappropriate activity taking place," said Ottenheimer, pointing out that the Department of Health frequently deals with what he called "crisis" issues.

Ottenheimer appeared at times to be defensive, as Coffey quizzed the now-retired politician on his memory of his time in office. In particular, Coffey wanted to know why there was little documentation to show that Ottenheimer, in the months after his first briefing, followed up on his initial concerns.  

On occasion, Justice Margaret Cameron questioned Ottenheimer directly.

"I'm still having difficulty on why you wouldn't want to know, as minister of health, up front, that this is the problem," she said.

Ottenheimer said he was respecting a review process that he understood would take some time to complete.

"I formed the view, Madame Commissioner, that there were other stages that had to be completed," said Ottenheimer, who added that he felt that measures were being taken to protect patient safety.

Ottenheimer testified last week that he had wanted the public to be informed immediately about problems uncovered at the pathology lab.

However, Ottenheimer said he deferred to expert advice from within Eastern Health, which operates at arm's length from government, to not immediately inform patients, amid physician concerns about panic. Ottenheimer also said he was felt relief when a St. John's newspaper made the issue public in early October.

The inquiry is examining how the lab produced wrong results for more than 300 breast cancer patients between 1997 and 2005.