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Erroneous letters give 700 patients cancer scare

10:17 17/04/2014

A “stupid mistake on the part of a member of staff” was responsible for a false alarm in which more than 700 people who had routine scans for colon cancer received a letter advising them to take further tests.

The recipients of the letter were among 249,000 people who were invited by the Flemish government to be tested for colon cancer. Each person had to provide a stool sample to the Centre for Cancer Detection, and the letter was meant to be sent to those whose sample appeared abnormal. They were advised to consult their doctor to arrange further investigations.

But the 762 people concerned were in fact perfectly healthy, as revealed in letters sent to their family doctors that pronounced them clear of the disease. The centre said an administrative error was responsible for the mix-up.

“Everyone concerned has received a new letter, and we’ve spoken to most of them on the telephone,” explained professor Patrick Martens. “In the meantime, we have built at extra safety filter into our system so that this sort of thing cannot happen again.”

About 5,000 people are diagnosed with colon cancer every year in Flanders, 750 of whom die of the disease. About 43% of the 249,000 people aged 66 to 74 invited to take part in the first major screening programme responded to the call – “a good many more than we expected,” said Martens.

 

photo courtesy Ed Uthman/Flickr Commons

 

Written by Alan Hope