While the fallout continues from news that some B.C. radiologists misread medical scans and missed cancer diagnoses, some patients are getting conflicting information about how they are affected.
A Powell River man who underwent a CT scan in August has received two letters from health authorities, both dated Feb. 8 and both saying that his scans were reviewed by other radiologists.
While one letter tells the patient that there was no discrepancy between the readings and no follow-up is needed, the other says that there is a discrepancy that could be significant.
"I didn't know what to think," said the patient, who asked to remain anonymous. "I thought, whoever's doing this hasn't got a clue."
The contradictory letters gave the opposition NDP plenty of fodder during question period at the B.C. legislature on Thursday.
"Will the minister of health first please apologize to this patient and then explain to him what on Earth is going on?" MLA Dawn Black asked.
Health Minister Colin Hansen said he wasn't aware of the letters, but added, "This gentleman deserves an apology, not just from me, but I think from the health authority and from the physicians involved. This is clearly a situation that is not acceptable to anyone."
Three radiologists in Powell River, Comox and the Fraser Valley are currently under review by the province.
But Laura Bazille Moser says the investigation will never be enough for her family. Her father John died of cancer last month, after a radiologist in Powell River read his CT scan and declared him cancer-free.
Now Moser has been dealt another blow; she suffers from debilitating back pain, but a CT scan in August found nothing wrong. A few days ago, she received a letter saying that her scans had been read by an unqualified radiologist.
"I had major questions as to how I could be deteriorating physically the way that my body has been," she told CTV News.
"How does this happen that my CT scan and many other people's CT scans are read wrong? Who's responsible for this?"
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee