Newfoundland Injury Law Blog

Ladies:
Based on our recent communication from Mr. Crosbie regarding the upcoming mediation talks, it's time to let your voice be heard! Don't let all these months and years of worry go for nothing. Don't let Premier Williams back down on his word! Contact him and contact the media to make sure they keep on top of this story. Don't be swept under the rug - make a noise!

i was digonised with breast cancer 1999 i had 2 my breast removed did 6 months chemo and 11 lypmuds remove from my arm then 2005 was call in to talk about my restesting telling me i wasn;t going to died of breast cancer i didn;t have it i only had precanerious cells after going through terriable ordeal cemo it was a living hell i wouldn;t wish it on my worse enemy not even the ones that did this to me then they have the the nerve to come out and ask us that have been through this to put faith in them i wonder what they would do if it was done to them ar some one belong to them we went through all this enquiry nobody wnts to take the blame its time that somebody get of their high horses and make a decison and get this settled and give us a little peace of mind and let us get on with our lives some don;t have much time

I felt the dreaded lump myself in June of 2001; from there I had the lump removed and then my left breast:chemo followed.Whuke you hear of all the delays in the health care system and peple waiting for tests etc I felt I was fortunate that I did not experience any of that. I was comfortable with the whole process. I went about normal life happy and content that all was well; until one night as I was washing supper dishes and my husband was in the livingroom watch the news. Suddenly, he shouted out Mary do you know about this. I didnt know what he was talking about but I could tell by his voice it was bad. There is no way to truly discribe how it feels to have the floor give way underneath you or the panic that set in. I never did hear directly from anyone to say I was on the retest list. I finally got through to Eastern Health by way of an ad they had in our local paper telling breast cancer patients the phone number to call etc. I called and was told I was on the list. I had thought that someone either Eastern Health or my local clinic would have called to tell me my results but no. As my doctor had left there was a time when I didnt have a family doctor and my report from Eastern Health was just filed in my file. I eventually saw a doctor at my clinic and he said there was no change in my testing (which was good) I recently had a lump removed from my neck and when I went back to see my surgeon after two weeks my pathology report wasnt back and he said it was because of the extra precautions in place now at my hospital here in Gander because of what had happend at Eastern Health everyone was being extra carefull and tests were being sent out for confirmation. Thank God my results were good. BUT for the rest of my life (hopefully it will be a long one) there will be one constant-- after every test ARE THESE THE RIGHT RESULTS. I'm very happy that I got a good report but there is a place in the back of my mind that wonders if the results are right.
I'm sure every other person involved with this blunder is in the same boat. Our lives and confidence with our testing will never be the same. Mary Chaffey

Well, well,well. Eastern Health you never cease to amaze me. My shock and disbelief of how your staff could make such horrible mistakes and then cover them up so nonchalant. My Mother was diagnosed in 2000 with Breast cancer and has been fighting for her life for the past 9 years. Cancer is "HELL" all by it's self but to be treated so unfairly is pure cruelty My family has watched our mother die and come back to life more times than I care to remember,because we all love her and need her so much we as a family have given her the care and support she needed to get right back up and fight for her life time and time again.obviously we had no help for a medical facility that we put so much trust in. Never again will we leave it up to anyone but our family the steps to take next to fight for her life. damn you eastern Health.Stop worrying about your good name and pull up your boot straps and fix this now before we loose any more family members to this dreadful disease.

Tanya Finlayson
(daughter)

With great shock and fear I was diagnosed in October 2003 as having breast cancer. I had surgery December 2003 and January 2004 to remove the cancerious tumor from my right breast and then went on to have six months chemo and five weeks of radiation. I can tell you with great honesty that the chemo and radiation to me was like a living hell. Thank God I finally got through it, thinking and hoping it was all behind me and trusting that I had gotten the best care that every breast cancer patient derserves and is intitled to. Then in 2005 I was retested with a change from ER/PR negative to ER/PR positive and told that I had missed a possible life saving hormone therapy (tamoxifin) which shouldhave been given to me the year 2004 when I completed my chemo and radiation treatments.
Shocked once again because of my wrong or flawed ER/PR retesting results and because I was not told earlier that I was going to be retested left reliving the pain and uncertainty that I thought I had put somehat behind me. The questions that were now left were overwhelming and frightening etc; I wondered if the treatment I received was the right chemo treatment, did I actually need the chemo treatment at all, could my life be cut short and could my cancer come back?? because of my missed vital possible life saving hormone therapy (tamoxifin).
As of this very day, after questioning my ongologist several times by phone to get some answers, I still remain somewhat in the dark regarding this matter. How could this have happened? not just to me but hundreds of breast cancer patients by a Health Care system that we know now for sure from the results of the Cameron Inguiry was in a terrible state of affairs, to say the least. Us breast cancer patients have all suffered on some LEVEL from these ER/PR retestings and botched results and in my opinion we all should be compensated to some DEGREE.

In response to your request from the survivors of the ER/PR mistake: when I first saw my oncologist she said you are ER negative so I cannot give you Tamoxifen. i will give you four rounds of chemo as a precaution. I had concluded from this statement that if she knew I was ER positive in the beginning she would have put me on Tamoxifen and I would not have gone through those four greuling rounds of chemo. After five years I would have been finished seeing my doctor every six months and would have been rid of Cancer following me. Instead I found out at that time, I was indeed ER positive and I am now on Tamoxifen for five years and having follow ups every 6 months and bloodwork every three months. Thus my Cancer is following me for another five years. I am thankful that my Cancer was not in any lymph nodes and that I am doing well but upset with the insurance company for insuating some people don't deserve compensation. I challenge andy and all members of Eastern Health's Insurance Company to take four rounds of unnecessary chemo and go through nausea, vomiting, weakness, loss of appetite, hair loss, etc... etc... and then tell me I don't deserve compensation!!!

this comment is towrds the comment that Cheryl McGaugh made . if you have been through this you would know that we would not make this up i have to daughters whom now will also have to be carefully watched and who also watch thier mom very careful. if i say im not feeling well or have to get test done they wonder what for and how it will end so i don`t think anyone would like to make up stories about physical or mental stress that you are going through because you cry on a regular bases abou this not only for yourself but for others too and for those who lost the battle .

Thanks for the reply and the clarification Ches - I don't need something else to worry about.

This is a response to the comment from Marie Hickey. The consensus among oncologists is that Tamoxifen, if indicated, is worth taking even if commenced years from diagnosis. The experts believe that it is better to take it within weeks or months of diagnosis. Doctors at Eastern Health have placed many patients on Tamoxifen even though years after the diagnosis, and this approach is agreed by outside expert oncologists, such as Dr. Brufsky, who testified at the Inquiry. Of course, the decision to go on Tamoxifen must be discussed with an expert physician, because it has significant complications in 4 or 5 percent of cases.

Having read June Bennett’s comment about starting Tomoxifen 3 months after breast cancer surgery to be effective has made me again totally consumed and overwhelmed by the fiasco of the botched breast cancer retesting and now this.

When I found the lump back in August 2002, I was attending Memorial University and half way through obtaining a Social Work Degree. I had an ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy done and the results all came back as negative (no cancer) and it was up to me if I wanted the lump removed, but it was not necessary. I decided to have the lump removed because it should not have been there in the first place. I had a lumpectomy and when the results came back in December, 2002, it was breast cancer. I was never so devastated in all my life. I was ordered by my doctor to withdraw from University immediately. After surgeries, aggressive, grueling chemotherapy and 25 days of radiation, I was told that because my receptors were negative that I did not have to take any other medication such as Tomoxifen.

When the botched breast cancer testing broke in the media in October, 2005, I started calling and calling the cancer clinic to find out about my results, but to no avail. I finally got a call from my doctor in January 2006 and he wanted to see me. When I did meet with my doctor , he told me that my results were sent to Mt. Sinai and came back as receptor positive and I was now placed on the drug, Tomoxifen. This was 3 years after my official results of negative, so I missed three whole years of taking Tomoxifen, a drug that would benefit me for the cancer not to return.
Back in 2005, my results were sent to Mt. Sinai (twice), one retesting was sent away and a couple of weeks after that another retesting was sent away. When both results came back to the Cancer Clinic only one retesting result was entered into the computer and that retesting result was receptor POSITIVE. The other retesting result of 2005 was over looked and was not entered into the computer at the Health Science Centre, until February 2008, with result as receptor NEGATIVE. Again, this was three whole years. Along with the fiasco of the botched breast cancer results never leaving my mind. Now this, what if my other retesting result had to be entered into the computer with receptor negative results, then I would never, never have been put on Tomoxifen and probably would not be here today. This has taken a massive toll on me and my family, with sleepless nights and with every ache or pain that I feel I am wondering if the cancer has returned. It’s on our minds 24/7, but you have to continue and try to live a normal life. We need this horrendous nightmare to stop so we can all get on with our lives. I know this much, I don’t know if I will ever trust any system again. Now, when doctors tell me that my results are fine, I never feel confident in hearing that anymore.
In 2008, I attempted to complete my Social Work Program again , but with the information being released with the Cameron Inquiry , I was totally stressed and could not continue with my studies. I am now left with paying back a student loan of $21,000.00 for a program that I could not finish. Mr. Crosbie, please get this nightmare settled as soon as you can so we can ALL get on with our lives.

Thank you.
Louise M. Sellars

Having just read June Bennett's comment above - Tamoxifen "must be started withing 3 months of surgery to be effective", I am now shocked once more. If that is the case, why was I placed on Tamoxifen 6 YEARS after surgery!!! I have been exposed to side effects such as bone cancer, blood clots and God knows what for no reason???? When are we going to get some accurate information here!!!

I am appalled at Cheryl McGaugh's comments! How insensitive and offensive to those of us who have endured the cancer journey. Should Ms. McGoaugh ever have to go down that road, I am certain that it would change her perspective. Thank you Mr. Crosbie for your response to this "lady". Surely she does not think that we would take the time to make up stories such as these. This is my second entry to the blog, mainly because of the comments referenced by Ms McGaugh.

As a follow-up to my previous comments, I would like to add that the route I took on my cancer journey was very much influenced by the confusion, hesitancy and indecisiveness surrounding the discovery of errors in the lab at the time of my diagnosis. I was unaware of these errors at the time, but I felt that something was not right with the approach that was being taken with my treatment plan. Upon being diagnosed I went through the usual stages of fear, anger, etc, and soon arrived at the stage where I decided that I was not going to die, and that I would do everything in my power to live. I wanted to see my grandchildren grow up. So I resolved to do so. I researched my type of cancer in depth; demanded to see my x-rays ( the location had been mistakenly identified as being on the left side, when indeed it was on the right side); I identified the type of cell that I had (comedo with necrosis): and I requested hormone-receptor testing that was denied. I was told that it was unnecessary. Yet I had a very aggressive cancer cell. It did not add up. So I decided to follow a very aggressive treatment plan so that I could live. I had a double masectomy with reconstruction, and so far I have lived. Had there not been as much confusion and indecisiveness surrounding the lab issue at the time I would probably have taken a more conservative approach to my treatment plan. There were many mistakes along the way, including inconclusive test results that had to be sent to the US for a decisive conclusion, so I decided to become my own advocate. My physicians were the best, but those working in the labs and in the cancer clinic at the time were undoubtedly under such stress throughout the investigation of the lab errors that confusion reigned supreme. They appeared to be afraid to make a decision. Must I now pay for this situation by being denied compensation by the insurer? The cancer clinic did not appear to want to do hormone-receptor testing during the period of my diagnosis. Yet they offered me tamoxifen, and one does not take tamoxifen unless one is estrogen positive. When I questioned this, it was written into my report that I had denied Tamoxifen. However, when I realized that I would not be hormone tested, I phoned and specifically requested tamoxifen, but was told that I was outside the safety zone for its being effective. I was told that it must be started within 3 months of surgery to be effective. Yet I could not get an oncology appointment for 3 months from my surgery. Is it any wonder that I decided on an aggressive treatment plan involving a double masectomy?

Because none of the breast cancer patients within the timeframe set out by the Commission of Inquiry could escape this type of hesitancy, indeciseness and confusion, it is imperative that they all be included in the compensation package. Only than will a genuine effort be made to prevent future mistakes.

Eastern Health insurers should compensate all who were affected by the mistakes of Eastern Health. Please don't forget the family members of the deceased who were diagnosed with breast cancer and died, even if the test results never changed we still had the anxiety and worry of wondering what if while waiting for the results. Eastern Health's irresponsible handling of the whole affair caused everyone anxiety and grief.

I am the sister of Carol-Ann Mulrooney, I not only lost my sister but my best friend to a wrong diagnosis of breast cancer. She fought for 4 years,doing research herself on the type of cancer she was told she had, to only find out 4 years later that her orginal diagnosis was wrong. My sister at that time was happy that she had other options to help her fight this dreaded disease. Myself and my sister went to see a lawyer in 2005 because she said this needs to be corrected so that this mistake doesn't happen to another human being, little did she know how many women and their families have been affected by Eastern Health decision to try and cover this mess up. My sister would want all the women and their families to be comensated for their suffering. My sister's family and myself will never be able to get over the fact that she could still be here with us enjoying her now six loving grandchildren. I have no faith in Eastern health, they didn't give my sister a chance to live, she was just another number to them. My sister lost her battle to cancer on Feb. 10,2006.We all miss her so much and we will never get over the fact that she still could be with us. THANKS EASTERN HEALTH !!!!

HER LOVING SISTER AND BEST FRIEND
CHRISTINA REID

I am the loving daughter of Carol Ann Mulrooney one of the trusting eastern health patients....We all at one time believed that early detection was the key to breast cancer survival. After these past few years it is clear to me that this is sadly not the case!!!!!! Having a health care system that valued the human lives they are dealing with is much more important. I remember the day I received the news that my mother had breast cancer...there where many emotions...sadness,fear,anger. But I remember her saying "Cynthia we have found it early....it will be ok" this was 2001. After a mastectomy, chemo,radiation, and more suffering than any one person should ever go through...the cancer was still spreading & had now taken over the bones & major organs. We all asked what was going on here? Why is nothing working? It is now 2005 & after many failed attempts my mother sought the advice of her fourth oncoligist since diagnosis, who finally ordered her tumor be re-tested. To everyones surprise the cancer they had been treating for the past four years, was not the type of cancer she actually had!! For over four years they were treating her for THE WRONG TYPE OF CANCER....which answered the question as to why it continued to spread! Shortly there after on another trip to the doctor my mother was given the dreaded news.... that if she had family away she may want to contact them...she had approx 6 MTHS left of her yet young life!! Feb 10 , 2006 my mother lost her battle with breast cancer @ the age of 48 yrs. We as a family will never be the same without her & to know it was all due to a flawed health care system makes it even worse!! I know I am not the only person with this very same type story. Please Mr Crosbie on behalf of all of us make them pay!! It is unfortunately the only way to make sure this doesn't happen to another patient & their family. Because as I see it eastern health will never remember the names of all the patients & families they have failed......but you can be sure they will never forget the amount of $$$$$ it cost them!!!!!!!

Loving daughter of Carol-Ann Mulrooney
Cynthia Gorman

In May of 2001 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I lost 1 breast in june and the other in july.
After a period of recovery I was sent to St. Johns to see a specialist. On consulting with him he advised that I do kemo and some months later he prescribed tomoxafin.
As i read in many of the comments the kemo and all the blood testing was pure hell and really took its tole on me.
I received a call from my Dr's office after he received a letter from Easteen Health in March of 2006 (5 years later)
and on talking to him and seeing the letter I learned that a major mistake had been made in my testing.
Since that day there are not many days that go by that the what if's are not on my mind. Had it not been for the good sense or the insight of that man, who knows, i might not be here now.
Last summer my Dr. found aa large mass in my pelvic area during a routine pap test. my first question was, where will this be tested? He said St. john's and my stomach knotted up. I told him I was not comfortable with this and he assured me that after all the trouble there was probably no better place to have it done.
Bottom line// I had the mass removed and was told that the results were negative. I still worry every day. What if they were wrong again.

The fact that I offered to make a donation to Daffodil Place for each comment posted seems to be getting more attention than the compelling comments of the patients themselves. I made the offer because it is a worthy charity connected with cancer care and it was an added incentive for patients to provide me with valuable information, and hopefully feel good about doing so. Of the 18 comments posted on the CBC site at mid afternoon, I counted only 2 from breast cancer patients.

The comments from patients provide eloquent testimony to the emotional trauma endured even by those patients who did not have a change in test results, and anyone who doubts this has not read the comments. These comments have been very useful to me in planning settlement strategy and the Eastern Health insurer will have to pay attention to them as well.

Ms. McGaugh, I agree that this research may not be “scientific”, but nobody could fabricate the testimony you read here, and I will verify with each class member in any event.

Only last month a class action settlement which provided $500 to each mental distress class member, was rejected by a British Columbia court. The court found that the plaintiff lawyers had not adequately researched these claims. The invitation to comment is part of my research, and part of the due diligence which will be expected by any court asked to approve a settlement.

Better to know now what people think than to find out later at a settlement approval hearing when people are objecting.

Ches Crosbie made a request for constructive criticism on the CBC website.

Mr. Crosbie, how are you going to show that these comments are accurate, that someone is not making several comments under different accounts, and that they are not fabricated or made spuriously?

Whether you like the sounds of that or not, the way you have set this up is open to those accusations, so I'm not sure how you're going to deal with that criticism.

People with legitimate grievances need a forum that reflects the seriousness of their grievances; blog comments are so unreliable in attribution and verifiability that it does a disservice to the actual legitimate cases.

I am appalled that the Insurance Company is doing the "divide and conquer" bit about this issue. Anyone who has gone through breast cancer knows the anguish/torment Eastern Health has laid at our doorsteps! Whether we got the right or wrong treatment, all of us who have gone through this deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity. We have to live with Eastern Health's blunders for the rest of our lives. I can't believe there is even an issue from the Insurance Comapany as to who should be compensated.

I read the comments of the other women and realize that we are all in the same boat. I would just like to say that although Eastern Health thinks it has contacted all patients involved in the ER/PR retesting it has not. I still have not received a letter telling me that my initial test results had changed. I found out because the cancer has now spread to my bones. I live every day with a swinging sword hanging over my head, never knowing when it will fall and I will die. Everytime I have tests and they are ok I worry about the next set. Will they show that the cancer has spread further. Anybody who has not had a dianosis of cancer cannot fully appreciate how it forever changes your life. I just hope that they fix the problems and other women do not have to go through what we have endured.

How do you define an "injury"?

Is it by pain and suffering? Is it by the physical scars that you see in a mirror? Is it defined by how many trips you have to make to the doctor?

All of these women have their scars. In my case, I was advised by family doctor to have a mamogram, it came back clear, but.... They wanted to do another, it came back clear, but...... they wanted to do another, It came back clear, but. (see a pattern). I was then sent to a needle biopsy, it came back clear, but something wasn't right........
Then I was sent for a lumpectomy. It came back clear and I was told by the surgen to forget this ever happened and to go live my life. The pathologist is 99.999% positive but that he (the surgen) was going to send it to the mainland just to be sure.

A short time later I was called and told that the surgen wanted to see me. He then told me that I had cancer. 4-5 months had past by this time. If it were left to the pathologist, it (the sample) would never had made it to the mainland clinic. Thats the quick and easy version.

Yes, I have scars........ I see then in the mirror every day. I see them when I take medication for anxiety and depression. I see them everytime I look at my son and think that I could have been one of those women that won't get to see their children grow up........ I HAVE SCARS......... divide us, I think not

I was diagnosed in November 1997. I remember feeling fear that my three children would grow up without me. I remember it getting dark in the evenings and me sitting in my living room paralyzed with fear because I needed someone or something to give me hope that I was going to live....and then I was referred to the Cancer Clinic. It was here that a young physician told me that I could still die because women die every day from breast cancer and that it was best for me to go home and shave my head as it would fall out anyway. Put a price tag on that Eastern Health! To me, what he made me feel that day will never leave me...at any price.

the thing is that most people and their families that got the call saying they were gonna be retested have all went through the same mental stress of never knowing what was gonna happen could they have called and said it was worst then they thought or like some did not need treatment they took. yes some people desrve more compensation then others but i think anyone who got that call never recieved a call back should be compensated for their mental stress.with me i amm like most who now worry everytime you feel a lump is there something wrong and CAN I TRUST WHAT THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS TELLING ME I PROBBABLY WILL FEEL THAT WAY FOR MANY YEARS TO COME AND MAYBE TILL THE DAY I DIE.

I also agree with the other ladies.I was retested and my test didn't change.But it was a stressful time waiting to hear if I got the right treatment.All of these laidies that got the wrong results have suffered enough.Eastern Health should do whats right and let these people and everyone get on with their lives.

The mental torment and stress that has been my companion since my diagnosis in 2004 cannot be measured by a court settlement. I was given the right diagnosis and treatment, but the way that Eastern Health chose not to inform patients to follow the insurance company's policy of DO NOT ADMIT FAULT OR DO NOT PAY AT ANY COST, leaves me quite hollow. Each day I think about those poor women who were not given proper treatment and I think about their families. Mr. Crosbie, if you can do something to ease the burden of those still living and get a settlement for those left, it will be a small comfort.

July 2004, date of cancer dx, forever in my memory.

I already commented on this blog but like to add a few more. As i said before i was retested and my results never changed but i would like to ask eastern health and their insurance company if they would like to come here and where live my lif for awhile and live with the worry and stress that i think everyone of us will have until the day we die. We will all always worry and wonder about all of this and any other test you have done thru the years and this process that we call life. I will question every result i ever have done again and every time i talk about it I can sit down and cry.Also i would like to know if either one would like to wear my mothers boots who is a senior and she had not one but two of her daughters had to be retested so how would they like to go to bed with this are their mine evey night. In closing i would not want anyone else to have to live every day with all the questions and unanswered on your mind because it is not a nice feeling that we have to live with for the rest of our lives and who can say if we will every be able toforgive and forget because I think it won,t happen not time soon.

In reading the comments above, there are obviously different levels of stress involved in this sordid affair. Personally, I was diagnosed in 2000, received chemotherapy and then was sent to Cleveland, Ohio for my radiation treatment. Let me tell you about stress! I had to leave my family behind and travel to a city in the US where I had never been before and see doctors I had never heard of before. So, life went on, worries about any pain that lasted more than 24 hours, afraid of blood tests (eight trys one day before they could find a vein), worried about mammogram results and so on. Then in 2006, I heard about patients being retested because of incorrect results! The worries began again. So, I had to contact Eastern Health and ask to be retested as no one ever contacted me. Sure enough, my results came back positive this time - six years with no Tamoxifen!!! I thought I was doing fine but now its a constant worry as to when it's going to strike again - could my life have been prolonged if I had taken the Tamoxifen for the first six years. Then to put the icing on the cake, I didn't receive a letter of apology last summer so I called in again and guess what? I wasn't on the list of patients who had been retested! So, that's two lists I was left off. I am thankful that I am now taking my own health care into my own hands and not taking anything for granted. I continue to be amazed at the mistakes that were made by these people and the lives that were put at risk as a result. I can't imagine how Betty feels - she had chemotherapy unnecessarily! I don't know if I could handle that knowledge without lashing out at somebody! I'm only 51 years old and I've had to deal with this for nine years so far. I got through the treatment OK, did everything I was told -let them inject chemicals in me, went away to the States and left my family, and was just starting to relax a bit in the knowledge everything possible had been done for me when this dealt me a blow that I will probably never recover from. You have to put your faith in the professionals as they are the ones with all the knowledge and skills but then you realize they are human just like you. Come on HIROC - put a price on that!

I was diagnosed eith breast cancer in the fall of 1999. After a lumpectomy I was given chemotherapy followed by radiation treatment. I was one of those called back with faulty test results. These results were borderline but I found out that I did not have to have gone through the traumatic experience of chemotherapy but should have received tamoxifin instead. At that time no other treament was given. It angers me to think of what I had to go through when there was another solution.

I asked to be re-tested but was told that I had tested positive and re-testing wasn't needed. I had to request to have the ER/PR testing to be done. My family doctor advised me to ask for it. I had no idea what it was or what it stood for. It was the first time I had heard the term. Needless to say the anxiety and stress has been unbearable. I have not been able to concentrate on anything but this failure in our health system ever since. My home life has been affected and I have not been able to return to work. My thoughts go from, I was treated but was I treated for the proper thing and the thought that I might not have had cancer in the first place and underwent a mastectomy and a botched reconstruction that was pictured in the Globe and Mail article for nothing. It is my firm belief that all women tested in this time frame are in the same boat of doubt and wonder if they are the next to be diagnosed with some other form of cancer and will the results of that testing be accurate. It is a situation I wish on no one. I know that a settlement will not bring back those brave women that never lived to see this day but for those of us still living with the doubt and worry, it may make make for a distraction from the last few years and hopefully help the families of those affected live in a little better financial situation and help us get on with our lives.

Anguish and distress go hand in hand with a cancer diagnosis. For this to be exacerbated by an extremely flawed health care system is unforgivable. Treatments and surgeries done on dubious test results,learning to live with this disease,and left wondering every day when it is going to return. This is anguish and distress brought to its highest degree. Why these people at Hiroc seem to think that patients is this category should not be compensated boggles my mind!

hi iam one of the patents who went through the call of being retested and never heard back. who do the insurance company think they are to decide because someones results never changed WE are not intitle.WE also went through the mental stress of wondering and worrying for many years. We may not of had a re occorunce YET but that don`t mean we never will and we will probably never know any of the results of the retset

I also agree with the other ladies here,when told that there was re-testing for all surgeries after 1997, I started to wonder if my diagnosis was accurate.Immediately I made a call to St. Johns and spoke to Nancy Parsons, to make a long story short I called every two weeks or so.And because friends in a similar situation got their new results long before I did, I was very frustrated and emotionally distressed. Every call I made, I got the same answers, nothing new.On May 17th 2006 I received a call telling me my results were not found to be inaccurate,but because Eastern Health failed to provide information in a timely and reasonable time frame, it was very , very difficult for me emotionally. An experience I will never forget.

In 1999, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. After receiving a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, she was declared cancer free and was put on Tamoxifen. Three years later she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. As soon as she was diagnosed, she was taken off Tamoxifen and was told she would have to have another hormone receptor test to see if she should still be on the drug. Shortly after, it was determined that she could still take Tamoxifen. After three months, she lost her battle with the disease. Then when all this business with the flawed hormone receptor tests came up, (which I might add that we were not informed about by Eastern Health, we had to hear about it in the media and were left to wonder for quite some time if she was affected by it. At the time the focus was mainly regarding the tragedy affecting women who were not given Tamoxifen, there wasn’t much said about whether or not there were any repercussions to women who were taking Tamoxifen and maybe shouldn’t have been doing so.) I called to have her two hormone receptor test samples retested. To my surprise, I was told there was only one on file. I explained to them the situation and that she had two, one in 1999 and one in June of 2003. Then I was told that in some instances they will go back and used the results from the first hormone receptor test if they still have them on hand. This was the case with my mother. Upon receiving the results of the retesting, I was told that her test results were actually inaccurate. So while she did receive Tamoxifen for her breast cancer treatment, I can’t help but wonder whether or not she should have been put back on the Tamoxifen when she had leukemia. My family and I still wonder to this day if it had anything to do with her losing her battle to the disease? How many other people out there are wondering ‘what if’? So, yes people have been and probably always will be distraught over this debacle with our medical system. It’s hard, probably near impossible, to erase the doubt that has been put in my mind, as well as so many others.

My darlings an "injustice" is putting it mildly. How can lives be categorized into - "your life was affected" and "your life was not". Who is playing "God"? I would not want the job. I put my innocent life into the medical professional's hands and What happened? I had my trust and hopes destroyed. I had the change of testing from negative to positive and I live in fear everyday and with every blood test and Dr. appointment I will hear, "Your cancer has returned".. I was denied the tamoxifen for a year and a half. After my test results were, firstly, stated that I remained negative for estrogen and then 2 weeks later told I was given the wrong results that I was now positive for estrogen and that I was read the wrong report, How can that restore faith in a system that failed all of us in the class action law suit. Can it be said that my cancer will never come back- of course not!! I had accepted or died enough mentally with the shock of the whole disease itself to try to put some resemblance of a normalicy to my life. I have not had a recurrence or spread of the disease to this point but who is to say that if I would have been on the drug when I should have been that I would not have it return or at least keep me in remission for a longer time. What have I done for myself? I have returned to work, I am working on my Masters at MUN, I have 4 beautiful children who see me as strong and I die everyday as I think of the women who have succumbed and who will succumb to this disease because of ERROR. I want to have trust!!! We will all eventually die, but not this way - hopeless and helpless due to ERROR!! I never dreamed that I would be a statistic of this magnitude. My life is worth more than a raffle ticket, you can live, you can die!!!!

I was also retested and my results did not change. I am grateful that as far as I know and who knows if we can ever be sure that I received the proper treatment but I do not credit my getting proper treatment to Eastern Health. I could just as well have been like so many others and not be treated correctly. The fact that I had to read about this disaster in the media and track somebody down at Eastern Health on a couple of occasions to find out if I was after receiving the correct results left me with a fine lot of sleepless nights. Having a family history of breast cancer (my mother) and having to undergo a second surgery which was unnecessary because a biopsy report came back telling me that I had cancer again only to find out after that second surgery that the report was wrong and it was only scar tissue. I still to this day wonder who got my biopsy report telling them they were ok. I pray whoever she is got rechecked as is still with us today. All of this makes it very hard to be confident and go on with life as if you are healthy. I truly believe that we have all suffered greatly, some more than others but I can't imagine how HIROC can justify saying or even thinking all of us victims are not entitled to compensation. I really hope nobody else ever have to go through the emotional strain that I as well as hundreds of others have had to endure.

I also retested and the same.I spend night after night not sleeping.every pain i have i wondering if my cancer is back.i went 6 years without tamoxifen now i have to take it until 2011.i also had a stroke back in aug of last year.i think eastern health would paid up.we are all suffer enought already.

I also agree with the other 2 ladies. I was retested and my results never changed either but i will always wonder what an if eveyone still got the right results. I don,t know if i will ever trust the system again. I think everyone deserves some compensation just that others deserve more because they had diffent outcomes. I,ll never forget the day I was called with the results of the retesting it was almost 3 years later and the day before the cameron inquiry was do to begin. When the lady told me who she was and what she was calling about my first thought was my results changed and they are only now calling me and i could of sat down and cried and still to this day i feel the same way and wonder what they have done to my life.

I agree with the statements above.
All breast cancers patients have suffered, as well as, their families, some unfortunately have greater challenges to face than others. The saddest part of this whole MESS is that some women did not survive to see the final report and hopefully changes that prevent this from happening to our children.
I am horrified that the Insurance company is trying to pit us one against the other. As a woman whose results did not change, I still have to worry if I can trust the path. reports I get each time a new lump/cyst is removed. I still was not contacted about the retesting until I persisted and called numerous times , and questioned them. Only then did they get back to me. If I left it alone and wondered/worried in silience, would they have ever contacted me ?
It has never been about money to me but to get the system safe for us all. The thing the money will do is to help patients get the best most up-to-date treatments. Also if the insurance company has to admit their fault, pay up to all involved who have suffered many sleepless nights(that they cannot begin to imagine the strain these have caused), only then will they insure that it does not happen again.
None of us can survive another crisis in the Health Care System.

I sincerely believe that all breast cancer patients in the time frame set out in the class action should be included in the settlement. There are those of us who requested and were denied hormone receptor testing. Because I had DCIS I was denied hormone testing, even though most paternal and many maternal relatives had died of breast cancer, including my mother. I had one of the most aggressive cancer cells that one could hope not to have, and yet I was denied. Confusion seemed to reign supreme when I requested it, and at the time I did not know why. The mental anguish and suffering surrounding this issue was unbearable. I was also denied sentinal node biopsy which I requested. There were X-ray reports that had errors re location of the cancer, and when a suspected recurrence arose, our lab could not reach a conclusive decision re results. I requested and was granted having the lump removed and sent to the US for testing, where conclusive results were obtained, and fortunately the cancer had not returned. I am still being followed re this issue, and mistakes are still coming up. Surely examples suich as this should be included for compensation. My mother died of breast cancer in 2004, just after mine was diagnosed, and yet I was denied hormone receptor testing.