PROVINCIAL pathologists aren't worried about botching cancer tests and say they check biopsies twice to rule out any diagnostic errors.
Dr. James Dalton, CEO of Diagnostic Services Manitoba (DSM), said he's certain there are enough reviews in place to investigate any suspicious tests, and that it's unlikely Manitoba will ever be rocked by hundreds of botched cancer tests such as in Newfoundland.
For example, if a doctor suspects a patient has breast cancer, Dalton said a small sample of the patient's tissue is sent to a lab. If the results confirm the doctor's suspicion, a larger tissue sample is sent to a pathologist at another lab.
If two pathologists disagree on whether the patient has cancer, they will send a tissue sample to an outside expert.
A pathologist is a doctor who works in a lab and examines things such as blood, tissue and bodily fluids to diagnose illness and disease.
"We think there's enough checks and balances that (it) would be extremely unlikely," Dalton said. "(But) we can do better."
Last week, a public inquiry into a Newfoundland health authority began investigating how almost 400 patients were given inaccurate results on breast cancer tests.
The errors went undetected for eight years, and the Newfoundland government revealed 108 of the 383 patients whose tests were misread have since died. It may never be known if any, died as a result of missing out on treatment.
Over the last few years, Manitoba's pathology program has been dogged by chronic staff shortages, test backlogs, and a review that revealed a retired pathologist made serious errors in one out of every four test results.
Dalton said a lot has changed since 2004, and Manitoba now has mechanisms in place to catch errors on any suspicious lab test.
DSM lost six of their regular 45 pathologists in 2005 after a wave of retirements, and was struggling to recruit new staff amid an increased demand for state-of-the-art diagnostic tests.
Dalton said DSM has recruited 10 pathologists, dropping the vacancy rate in the Winnipeg region from seven to 1.5. Manitoba has stopped sending tissue samples out-of-province for testing and Dalton said labs have recovered from an extended late-2007 backlog.
Dalton said diagnostics available to patients are the best they've ever been.
"I don't think what's happening is things are getting worse, it's just that the expectations are going up dramatically," Dalton said.
Part of the problem, Dr. Amin Kabani said, is tests are increasingly complex and pathologists are handling more of them because of an aging population.
"We've done some things right, despite the initial shortages," said Kabani, who is also a pathologist. "We meet and exceed the current guidelines people are struggling with."
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca --with files from CP
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