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Patients who have undergone radiology tests in Perth-Andover, Plaster Rock, Grand Falls and Saint Quentin hospitals are now facing a waiting game as regional health care authorities scramble to review up to 30,000 examinations by a Grand Falls radiologist.

The work of Dr. Bhagwan Jain, who performed services in Upper St. John River Valley hospitals, is undergoing a full-scale review by the province's health authorities.While the majority of the 30,000 examinations under review took place in Grand Falls and St. Quentin hospitals, it will also study the radiologist's work in the former Region 3 hospitals in Perth-Andover, Plaster Rock and Bath. Dr. Tom Berry, chief of staff for Horizon Health Network – formerly called Regional Health Authority B (RHA-B) said the Regional Health Authority A is taking the lead on the review since the radiologist worked primarily in Grand Falls and St. Quentin. The review will look at 18,000 radiology tests of patients in Grand Falls and St. Quentin. It will also review approximately 12,000 examinations carried out by the same radiologist at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Perth-Andover, the Tobique Valley Hospital in Plaster Rock and the Northern Carleton Hospital in Bath.

The radiology tests under review include ultrasounds, chest-x rays, fluoroscopies, venograms, Doppler ultrasounds and mammographies. The health officials said the doctor began working in RHA-A – which was then Health Region 4 in 1983. Dr. Berry explained the region undertook a review of the radiologist's work in 2007, following concerns raised by colleagues in 2006. He added the radiologist's competency was not in question during his entire employment in the region. He said a review of his work over the past two years discovered a 16 per cent error rate, well above the three or four per cent found acceptable by the region's tough standards. The study found that 53 of 332 examinations sampled between Dec. 1, 2008 and Feb. 9, 2009 raised concerns. The patients involved in those 53 examinations have been contacted, 28 of which involved major discrepancies. While the issue is of great concern to patients and their doctors.

The 2007 complaint, however, prompted the health authority's medical advisory committee to conduct an investigation, reviewing 100 tests conducted by the doctor. That review identified problems with The review a year later recommended that the doctor should cease to perform those three tests, consult with his peers for training and that a more detailed study be conducted in six months which is the study of 332 examinations made public Monday. The full-scale external investigation announced Monday will go back to 2007, when the complaint from physicians was launched.

The regional health authorities will hire an independent firm to conduct the review, which is expected to take about six months. Both Dr. Berry and Dr. Branch noted the difficulty in generalizing about the consequence of a misdiagnosed radiology test, pointing out radiological exams are only one component of examinations for a patient. He noted radiology is not the final test to determine the problem. If something is not revealed in radiology, he added, the patient's doctor will pursue it further. Still, Dr. Berry noted, the health authorities take the situation seriously. So far, he added, no major problems have been uncovered and he hopes that continues.

Source: The Victoria Star

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