|
Opposition calls for a judicial inquiry
in cancer screening controversy
|
|
Kelvin Parsons, MHA for the District of Burgeo-LaPoile and
Opposition Critic for Justice, says nothing short of a judicial
inquiry is needed at this time to establish what unfolded in the
unfortunate affair of false testing results of patients screened
for breast cancer in this province between 1997 and 2005. The Opposition questioned several ministers in the House of Assembly this week on government?s actions and inactions respecting this matter, including challenging the health minister for his shocking statement in the media that litigation concerns were prioritized over those of public health and safety. A call for a judicial inquiry by Parsons was deflected by Justice Minister Tom Osbourne, while the premier responded with a vague statement that a review and an exploration of options were being considered. Meanwhile, MHA Yvonne Jones presented a petition today calling for this judicial inquiry. This motion is expected to be debated in the legislature next Wednesday. "It is apparent that the health care system failed a great many women and their families in this province and we need to get to the bottom of why and how this travesty took place," says Parsons. "At this point we have 176 women whose death may be attributable to this horrendous mistake. We also have 117 other women whose treatments for cancer had to be altered and may have been put through inappropriate treatment such as a mastectomy. We have instances of communication failures. We have a system that made mistakes, hid information and whose quality control was simply not working. Moreover, we have a minister who has placed litigation risks against health protection. Now, how can anyone have confidence in government, in this department and in this particular minster when they have failed to be upfront and accountable in protecting our ultimate priority which is our health and well-being. "An inquiry will look into the facts and make recommendations and hopefully will help prevent repetition of such an event in the future. This is not about fixing blame at this time, but will involve a public airing of the evidence available concerning what led to this faulty testing and how it was handled by all levels involved." Parsons points out that judicial inquiries in this province and across the country have been undertaken for other questionable occurrences, including an inquiry into a fire in Come by Chance, into wrongful convictions and into airline crashes. "Government owes this inquiry to the people involved in this tragedy. They also owe it to all the people of the province whose confidence in the health care system has been shaken because it has grossly failed to measure up. Government also needs to establish its claim that it did its due diligence to health and safety and was also open and accountable in this whole process."
|
|
Media Contact: |