Radiologist suspended at Burin hospital

Days after apologizing for flawed cancer tests by pathologists, the largest health authority in Newfoundland and Labrador said it was reviewing the work of a radiologist.

In a statement Tuesday, Eastern Health said a radiologist hired at the Burin Peninsula Health Centre had been "temporarily relieved of clinical responsibilities pending the outcome of an extensive review of the approximately 6,000 reports generated by this physician."

The physician, who was not named, had worked with cases involving about 3,500 patients, Eastern Health said.

George Tilley, chief executive officer of Eastern Health, said the radiologist had been recruited outside of Canada.

He said Eastern Health staff had expressed concerns about the radiologist's work, and a preliminary review had raised additional concerns.

The physician was suspended May 10, and a review has been launched of all X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds done since the radiologist began working at the health centre last November.

Tilley acknowledged that Eastern Health is keen to address the issue publicly followinglast Friday's apology for not disclosing more details about problems with hormone receptor tests in a St. John's lab.

The authority did not disclose it had been aware that the error rate for those tests, conducted by pathologists in St. John's, was several times higher than it had acknowledged last fall.

"I think there's a heightened sensitivity here, that we want to be seen to be open and transparent with this," Tilley said.

Judicial inquiry ordered

On Tuesday, the Newfoundland and Labrador government ordered a judicial inquiry into those tests.

Physicians who have referred patients for diagnostic imaging at the Burin Peninsulahospital, in Salt Pond, will be contacted.

Judy Foote, a Liberal politician whose district is on the Burin Peninsula, raised the issue Tuesday in the house of assembly.

"These patients are wondering, 'What is the issue here?' So I'm asking you again, what [is] the nature of the concerns with the services provided by this radiologist?" Foote asked.

Health Minister Ross Wiseman said it is too soon to say exactly what went wrong or whether a patient had been harmed.

Eastern Health said the review will take a number of weeks to complete.