Halifax Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

I get several calls a week from patients, of family members of patients, who are concerned about the care that they, or their family member, have received from their doctor or hospital.

In most cases, a careful investigation of the facts reveals that there are no grounds for a medical malpractice claim (in other words, the doctor or hospital wasn’t negligent) or that there may have been negligence in the patient’s care, but the cost of filing a lawsuit would be more than the potential recovery.

Explaining these facts to my clients is one of the more frustrating aspects of being a medical malpractice lawyer. I hate telling patients that I believe there was negligence in the care they received but that I don't think they should pursue a compensation claim.

My colleague Ches Crosbie has posted about this problem at the Newfoundland Injury Law Blog. Ches is one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s finest medical malpractice lawyers. He points out that the decision to accept or reject a client who has a medical malpractice claim is always difficult.

College of Physicians and Surgeons

However, if you are not satisfied with the care that you or your family has received, you can file a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Each province has a College of Physicians and Surgeons that is made up of a panel of doctors and lay persons (non doctors) who are responsible for hearing complaints about doctor’s conduct and administering discipline.

Discipline can range from something as simple as giving the doctor a warning to as serious as suspending the doctor’s license or taking away the doctor’s license to practice medicine in that province.

File a Complaint About the Doctor!

I encourage patients and family members who are concerned about a doctor’s conduct to contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons to express their concerns. Often the patients don’t follow through with the complaint. I think this is a real mistake.

There are certain doctors who I regularly receive calls about. However, if the patients don’t file a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, there is no way for the College to know about any potential concerns about the doctor’s conduct.

When a patient finally files a complaint the College may not take the complaint seriously because it is the first complaint received about a particular doctor. The Board members' reasoning may be something like: “Well, we have only received one complaint about his/ her conduct. Lets give the doctor a warning to make sure it doesn’t happen again”.

On the other hand, if the College has received a half dozen or more complaints about the same doctor they will be far more likely to take the complaint seriously and more likely to administer more severe discipline to the doctor.

Ches gives some good advice about what type of information should be contained in a complaint to the College of Physicians and Surgeons. I would recommend anyone considering filing a complaint to take a look at his post.

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Dr. Rajgopal Menon, a pathologist responsible for potentially hundreds of faulty cancer test results should have been fired years ago according to Justice Paul Creaghan

5000 + Test Results Wrong or Incomplete!

Justice Creaghan is heading up an inquiry formed after an independent audit found that more than 5000 of Menon’s pathology tests for breast cancer and prostate cancer were incomplete or misdiagnosed. Let me repeat that: Menon's test results were wrong in more than FIVE THOUSAND cases. More than 25% of all the test results he performed over 12 years contained errors!

As a result, cancer patients had their diagnosis delayed or, in some cases, patients were told they had cancer when they did not.

Menon Refuses Responsibility

Menon has consitantly refused to take responsibility for his actions. Take a look at some of my previous posts: Disgraced Pathologist Menon “Sorry” but Blames Everyone in Sight and Disgraced Pathologist Menon's Work had 'Big Problems': New Brunswick.

The National Post has reported that Menon questioned Justice Creaghan at the press conference announcing the inquiry results. Menon asked why Justice Creaghan did not make any recommendations regarding the quality of the hospital administration during the time that he was employed with the hospital district.

Menon was quoted as saying: “This is very important because there is a lot of interaction between the administrators and pathologist, especially at the Chief’s level”.

Health Authority Knew About Problems

Creaghan acknowledged that there were problems at the Miramichi Regional Health Authority. That’s putting it kindly. I have posted about previous evidence from the inquiry which made it clear that staff at the Health Authority were well aware of the problems with Menon’s work.

For example: Health Authority Knew about Pathologists Problems: Miramichi and Deputy Minister Received Complaints about Disgraced Pathologist: New Brunswick and Negligent Cancer Screening put Patients at Risk: Miramichi Hospital and finally Negligent Cancer Screening in New Brunswick may Lead to Criminal Charges and Medical Malpractice Claims.

It seems to be clear from the evidence presented at the inquiry that Menon’s work did not meet the standard of care required of a competent pathologist.

Delays in Diagnosis may have Fatal Consequences

If Menon’s faulty work resulted in a delay in diagnosing cancer patients, it’s possible that patients may have died due to his incompetence. Since early identification and treatment provide the best chances of survival, it is foreseeable that the problems with the Miramichi Health Authority may have lasting and fatal effects for many patients.

Lawyers are considering a proposed class action against the Health Authority for systemic negligence. If you or a family member has been diagnosed with cancer as a result of testing performed at the Miramichi Regional Health Authority you should contact a lawyer to see whether you have a potential medical malpractice claim.

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