PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Researchers have disagreed on questions regarding the overtreatment, misdiagnosisand overdiagnosis of breast cancer. They’ve debated in medical journals on the appropriate frequency of mammograms. Some physicians recommend that slow-growing cancer cells be monitored rather than treated. In February, local Fox affiliate KPTV reported that Jeffrey Harter, a pathologist with Providence Health & Services, gave incorrect lab results to multiple patients who are preparing to file a lawsuit. Jessica Vickers, one of the patients, told the station that her mother and grandmother died from breast cancer and she has diligently gotten herself tested for the disease. She told the station she was skeptical when Harter told her a year ago she tested negative for breast cancer. A year later, her primary care doctor told her the test was inaccurate and she had cancer, the station reported."
—————————————————————————————
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Jeanette Votaw and her husband Floyd, residents of Marion County, sued Pacific Pathology and Vogel in late December 2023 seeking $5 million. The suit alleges that in 2019 Pacific Pathology tested a lumpectomy from Votaw’s right breast to determine the level of the HER2, a protein that promotes cancer cell growth. The suit states that Votaw’s doctors used a faulty test to diagnose her with fast-growing HER2-positive breast cancer. They directed her to be treated with chemotherapy, a typically very debilitating treatment, as well Herceptin. The drug has side effects that include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and headache. By October 2022, a representative for Pacific Pathology informed Votaw that her cancer therapy was unnecessary and that they would compensate her, the suit claimed. “No compensation has ever been offered,” reads the lawsuit. According to the suit, “Votaw suffered side effects from the treatments and continues to suffer permanent injuries from the treatments.” Those include anxiety, insomnia, headaches, heart malfunction, hair loss, memory difficulties, neuropathy and others."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "More women sue Salem pathology lab, alleging false breast cancer diagnoses," by Reporter Jake Thomas, published by The Lund Report (Independent health news for Oregon and SW Washington) on April 4, 2024.
SUB-HEADING: "Following a wave of earlier suits, the litigation blames additional companies and doctors for women undergoing unnecessary chemotherapy."
GIST: "For a year, Shelley Clift underwent chemotherapy and other treatments that caused pain, discomfort and fatigue after her primary care physician told her that a lump on her left breast was a fast-growing form of cancer, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year.
But in January 2022, Clift’s doctor became suspicious of the test used by Pacific Pathology Associates to diagnose her, and ordered the samples to be retested at a different laboratory.
According to the suit, the results showed that Clift had a less-threatening form of cancer, and that her treatment — which left her with lingering medical problems — had not been necessary.
Clift’s is one of three new lawsuits filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court from women who underwent exhausting treatments as a result of allegedly faulty testing by Pacific Pathology, a prominent Salem laboratory.
The new filings follow a wave of lawsuits brought in late 2022 that are still playing out in court. In all, nine women have filed similar claims against the company.
The suits blame Pacific Pathology for not looking into whether it was finding an improbably high number of positive tests.
The cases name individual pathologists allegedly involved in making diagnoses, as well as Pacific Pathology’s parent company, Sonic Healthcare USA, a subsidiary of Australia-based Sonic Healthcare. a multinational laboratory services company based in Australia..
Both Pacific Pathology and Sonic Healthcare did not respond to requests for comment on the litigation, and nor did Jennifer Oetter, an attorney representing Pacific Pathology in Oregon.
In court, Pacific Pathology has denied any lab errors or role in diagnosis. The only pathologist to respond in court, Daryl Vogel, has denied wrongdoing as well.
Researchers have disagreed on questions regarding the overtreatment, misdiagnosisand overdiagnosis of breast cancer. They’ve debated in medical journals on the appropriate frequency of mammograms. Some physicians recommend that slow-growing cancer cells be monitored rather than treated.
In February, local Fox affiliate KPTV reported that Jeffrey Harter, a pathologist with Providence Health & Services, gave incorrect lab results to multiple patients who are preparing to file a lawsuit.
Jessica Vickers, one of the patients, told the station that her mother and grandmother died from breast cancer and she has diligently gotten herself tested for the disease. She told the station she was skeptical when Harter told her a year ago she tested negative for breast cancer. A year later, her primary care doctor told her the test was inaccurate and she had cancer, the station reported.
Providence issued a statement stressing that it takes the reports seriously, launching “a thorough investigation” and reaching out to affected patients. The statement also apologized “for any concerns this causes our patients and their families.”
New lawsuits add alleged victims
Portland law firm Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC brought the initial lawsuits against Pacific Pathology on behalf of six women. Collectively, the suits seek nearly $57 million.
Jane Paulson, an attorney with the firm, recently expanded the earlier suits to include Leica Biosystems Richmond, Inc, an Illinois manufacturer of medical equipment.
The lawsuits now allege that Pacific Pathology used Leica’s machines in the false tests and claim Leica provided Pacific with equipment and supplies that were “defective and unreasonably dangerous in their design and manufacture.” Leica did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Lund Report.
In December 2023 and January of this year three additional lawsuits were filed by different law firms that, combined, seek more than $18 million.
Jeanette Votaw and her husband Floyd, residents of Marion County, sued Pacific Pathology and Vogel in late December 2023 seeking $5 million. The suit alleges that in 2019 Pacific Pathology tested a lumpectomy from Votaw’s right breast to determine the level of the HER2, a protein that promotes cancer cell growth.
The suit states that Votaw’s doctors used a faulty test to diagnose her with fast-growing HER2-positive breast cancer. They directed her to be treated with chemotherapy, a typically very debilitating treatment, as well Herceptin. The drug has side effects that include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and headache.
By October 2022, a representative for Pacific Pathology informed Votaw that her cancer therapy was unnecessary and that they would compensate her, the suit claimed.
“No compensation has ever been offered,” reads the lawsuit.
According to the suit, “Votaw suffered side effects from the treatments and continues to suffer permanent injuries from the treatments.” Those include anxiety, insomnia, headaches, heart malfunction, hair loss, memory difficulties, neuropathy and others.
Votaw’s lawsuit, filed by Salem attorney Dan Schanz, seeks $5 million.
Evelyn Moreland, a Salem resident, filed a similar lawsuit in January seeking $5.6 million for ongoing physical and mental ailments from undergoing unnecessary chemotherapy. She is represented by Travis S. Prestwich of Salem law firm Swanson Lathen Prestwich.
Salem firm swallowed by larger companies
Founded in 1985, Pacific Pathology was acquired by Florida-based Aurora Diagnostics in 2016.
Sonic Healthcare purchased Aurora Diagnostics in 2018 from private equity owners Summit Partners and KRG Capital for $540 million, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Sonic is one of the world’s largest medical diagnostic companies, with more than 40,000 employees. Its stock trades on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.thelundreport.org/content/more-women-sue-salem-pathology-lab-alleging-false-breast-cancer-diagnoses
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
---------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
---------------------------------------------------------
YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
————————————————————————————————
MORE VALUABLE WORDS: "As a former public defender, Texas' refusal to delay Ivan Cantu's execution to evaluate new evidence is deeply worrying for the state of our legal system. There should be no room for doubt in a death penalty case. The facts surrounding Cantu's execution should haunt all of us."
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett; X March 1, 2024.
——————————————————————
