Not consulted about MD's return: radiologist

The president of the association that represents radiologists in Newfoundland and Labrador is questioning how Central Health handled the reinstatement of a physician three years ago.

Dr. Ed Mercer said Friday that his members were asked to review the work of Dr. John Ozoh in 2007 but he says no radiologist in the province was asked for an overall opinion of Ozoh's performance before he was reinstated more than two months later.

Ozoh was suspended in May 2007 after five of his radiology reports were flagged by other physicians.

He was reinstated in July 2007 after the health authority did a review of his work. It said his error rate — below 10 per cent — was acceptable

Mercer said that decision should not have been made without consulting a radiologist.

"The raw data needs to be interpreted and I would suggest it should have been interpreted by radiologists," he said

Last Friday, the health authority announced publicly that Ozoh has been suspended again over concerns about his work.

The Central Health  told a news conference he was suspended after it began reviewing Ozoh's work in June.

Of the 2,500 reports that Ozoh prepared since June, 500 required what the authority called "edits."

Of those reports, 120 are "potentially clinically significant," the health authority said.

Central Health officials said they don't know if Ozoh's work harmed any patients. It is contacting the doctors who referred patients to him.