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speakup

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland's largest health board was discouraged from telling patients about problems with breast cancer tests to minimize the threat of litigation, despite a plea from the province's health minister months earlier to warn the public of the emerging debacle, a public inquiry heard Wednesday.

Gary Hebbard/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Eastern Health Board chairwoman Joan Dawe speaks with reporters after her appearance at the breast cancer inquiry in St. John's, N.L., on Wednesday.

A series of notes, e-mails and meeting minutes were entered as evidence that provide a glimpse into how the Eastern Health authority learned of the errors, what it did to inform the public and its failed attempts at damage control.

In an e-mail dated Oct. 18, 2005, St. John's lawyer Daniel Boone advised the board against sending patients a letter informing them that their breast cancer tests were being reviewed in Toronto.

"There is a possibility that we could be sued in a class action by those people who receive this proposed correspondence whose test results do not change. Otherwise these people would not have a cause of action, so sending the letter actually exposes us to a liability which does not now exist," Boone wrote to Heather Predham, Eastern Health's risk management consultant.

"I do not see how the letter advances the health care of the affected patients and it increases our exposure to claims for damages. I would recommend against sending it."

Another e-mail entered as evidence Wednesday indicates that three months before Boone's letter was written, Eastern Health was under pressure to tell the public of growing concerns with the quality of its breast cancer testing.

But the issue wasn't made public until an independent weekly newspaper in St. John's published a story on Oct. 2, 2005.

Earlier Wednesday, Joan Dawe, chairwoman of Eastern Health's board of trustees, apologized to patients who may have missed proper treatment because of the inaccurate tests.

"I'm very sorry for the pain and anxiety that patients and their families have endured," Dawe said in a statement.

"For this, Eastern Health apologizes."