Beleaguered 'Providence Pathology.' Oregon: Scars have been left behind by pathology errors, Fox12 New reports. (KPTV)…"Vickers is now recovering from the initial surgery to remove both of her breasts and is scheduled for a reconstruction this summer. “I didn’t want to do anything like that. I was always very proud of what I had,” she said. “I never thought I’d be somebody with fake boobs. It’s going to be a different life for me, I guess.” Vickers is one of at least 11 patients who wrongly received negative cancer results from Providence Pathology. The cases all stem from lab results incorrectly reviewed by Doctor Jeffrey Harter, a pathologist at Providence. This is according to interviews and medical records reviewed by the FOX 12 Investigates team. Providence has not publicly identified the doctor in question. FOX 12 has repeatedly reached out to Harter but have not been able to reach him for comment. He is no longer providing services at providence."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In the two months since FOX 12 first reported this story, Providence has continued to decline to make a representative available for an interview. Additionally, the hospital system has not disclosed the number of patients impacted nor details on how the errors came to be in the first place. For Vickers, the lack of information about what happened has been frustrating. “The surgeons and people that I’m dealing with, like, the nurses and medical assistants have been amazing. Above that, I haven’t heard anything,” she said. “I feel like they should be trying to reach out, trying to help us. And it doesn’t seem like they are.” At least two lawyers are currently working with impacted patients and are planning to bring legal action against the hospital system."

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STORY: "Scars left behind by pathology errors at Providence, reported by  Fox12 Investigates  Reporter Ezra Kaplan, published by KPTV, on May 1, 2024. 

GIST: On February 20, Jessica Vickers got a call out of the blue that would change her life.

“My primary care doctor called me almost in tears,” she said. “I need to tell you that your pathology results that you got done last year are wrong and that you have some form of cancer.”

A biopsy from a year earlier had been read incorrectly, and Vickers had wrongly been told that she was cancer-free.

She got set up with an oncologist and together they decided that the best course of action would be a double mastectomy. Vickers says that if it wasn’t for the pathology error, and resulting year of delayed treatment, she wouldn’t have had to take such a severe course of action.

“I probably wouldn’t have had to do the bilateral mastectomy or wouldn’t have made that choice,” she said. “If I would have known about the cancer, I probably would have just done a lumpectomy, but because of waiting a year and not knowing how big or how bad it could be, I was like, no, I want everything gone. I’m not taking any risks. From what the surgeon said, that was my best option.”

Vickers is now recovering from the initial surgery to remove both of her breasts and is scheduled for a reconstruction this summer.

“I didn’t want to do anything like that. I was always very proud of what I had,” she said. “I never thought I’d be somebody with fake boobs. It’s going to be a different life for me, I guess.”

Vickers is one of at least 11 patients who wrongly received negative cancer results from Providence Pathology.

The cases all stem from lab results incorrectly reviewed by Doctor Jeffrey Harter, a pathologist at Providence. This is according to interviews and medical records reviewed by the FOX 12 Investigates team. Providence has not publicly identified the doctor in question. FOX 12 has repeatedly reached out to Harter but have not been able to reach him for comment. He is no longer providing services at providence.

In the two months since FOX 12 first reported this story, Providence has continued to decline to make a representative available for an interview. Additionally, the hospital system has not disclosed the number of patients impacted nor details on how the errors came to be in the first place. For Vickers, the lack of information about what happened has been frustrating.

“The surgeons and people that I’m dealing with, like, the nurses and medical assistants have been amazing. Above that, I haven’t heard anything,” she said. “I feel like they should be trying to reach out, trying to help us. And it doesn’t seem like they are.”

At least two lawyers are currently working with impacted patients and are planning to bring legal action against the hospital system.

Meanwhile Vickers says she wants to see Providence Health do better.

”I think the biggest thing they can do is communicate with people better, explain things better,” she said. “Even if it’s an error on your part, it’s better to own it and accept it and fix it than hide from it.”

Jessica Vickers has set up a GoFundMe to help cover expenses during her medical procedures and bridge the gap until she can return to work. You can find that account here: https://gofund.me/d663fc37

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.kptv.com/2024/05/01/scars-left-behind-by-pathology-errors-providence/

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

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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;

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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;

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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

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