PROVINCE THAT HIRED DR. CHARLES SMITH AFTER HE LEFT ONTARIO IN DISGRACE NOW REVIEWING 70,000 EXAMS CONDUCTED BY A NOW SUSPENDED RADIOLOGIST;

"HOWEVER, IN AN INTERVIEW THURSDAY, DENNIS KENDEL, THE REGISTRAR OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, SAID THE COLLEGE ALSO HAD CONCERNS ABOUT TSATSI'S COMPETENCY 2½ YEARS AGO AND CONDUCTED A REVIEW.

"IN THE FIRST REVIEW, THERE WERE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT DR. TSATSI'S CAPACITY TO DETECT CERTAIN ABNORMALITIES IN X-RAYS," HE SAID.

HOWEVER, AT THE TIME, THE CONCERNS ABOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS WERE NOT AS SERIOUS AS THE MORE RECENT ONES, HE SAID.

"THERE WASN'T EVIDENCE THAT WOULD SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING WAS BEING PUT AT RISK. IN THE MOST RECENT REVIEW THERE WAS SUCH EVIDENCE," HE SAID."

CBC NEWS:

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The province of Saskatchewan is conducting an "unprecedented" review of 70,000 medical images analysed by Dr. Darius Tsatsi.

Saskatchewan is the province where Dr. Charles Smith was hired on a one-year contract with the expectation that he would eventually become a full-time employee - with the support of a colleague from medical school - to work as a pathologist after he left Ontario in disgrace. (Smith's contact was terminated after news of his employment became public);

"Questions of competency were raised 2½ years ago about the radiologist whose work has led to an unprecedented review of 70,000 medical images, a spokesman for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan says," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported on May 21.

"On Wednesday, the Yorkton-based Sunrise Health Region announced it suspended Dr. Darius Tsatsi from privileges at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre on May 14 after serious problems were found in cases Tsatsi had been involved in," the story continued;

"The college said after other radiologists double-checked Tsatsi's work on 103 randomly chosen cases from last year, there was a "high incidence of disagreement."

"A worrisome proportion of those disagreements involve clinical situations in which a diagnostic error could have devastating adverse consequences for patients," the college said in a background document released to the media Wednesday.

Number to call:

The Sunrise Health Region is advising people who want to find out if Dr. Darius Tsatsi handled their diagnostic images to call their toll free number: 1-877-854-4424.
However, in an interview Thursday, Dennis Kendel, the registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, said the college also had concerns about Tsatsi's competency 2½ years ago and conducted a review.

"In the first review, there were some concerns about Dr. Tsatsi's capacity to detect certain abnormalities in X-rays," he said.

However, at the time, the concerns about his knowledge and skills were not as serious as the more recent ones, he said.

"There wasn't evidence that would suggest that people's well-being was being put at risk. In the most recent review there was such evidence," he said.

Through his lawyer, Tsatsi asked back then to undergo "remedial education" at McMaster University in Hamilton.

He took the courses, but the college wasn't satisfied he had improved enough, so it did another review, leading to the suspension.

Tsatsi, who was trained in South Africa and has been working in Saskatchewan since 2004, still has his medical licence, but has agreed not to practice medicine until the competency hearing process is complete, Kendel said.

A review of 70,000 images is being conducted, most of them from Tsatsi's work at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre. There are also a smaller number of images to be checked at the Cypress Health Region in the southwest part of the province and at the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.

Tsatsi's wife Liza issued a statement on her husband's behalf Thursday saying he will co-operate with the investigation.

"Look, he's not going to to run away from this," she said.

"He's a man of character and integrity. He will stay around and make sure the process finishes and co-operates because if he goes to South Africa he compromises the investigation and he's going make sure that no stone is left unturned."

In the written statement, Darius Tsatsi said his main concern is patient safety. He said he remains in Canada but will be taking a trip to South Africa to visit an ailing brother and attend to "private matters."

He said he and his family "wish to thank friends, patients and colleagues for their support in these trying and difficult times."

The statement said Tsatsi has been in medical practice for about 26 years, almost half of which were spent in diagnostic radiology.

"Some of the radiologists that he trained are employed all over the world including Canada," the statement said."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;