VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Nearly 200 people participating in a program at the
BC Cancer Agency have been affected by some paperwork mistakes.
Dr. Barb McGillvray says the patients are part of the
Hereditary Cancer Program, which studies family history of the disease. "It's looking at what the patient brings to us, what their family history brings to us, and separating those patients that need additional testing and/or surveillance."
She notes the program does not diagnose patients and says no one has been harmed by the incomplete documentation. But the information gaps could affect the treatment patients get at their doctor's office. "Because, for instance, we have talked about increasing frequency with something like mammography... then it's very clear that community physicians need that information as well."
McGillvray says the files will be completed and passed along to the patients and their doctors.
One-hundred and eighty-eight people have already been contacted and there are only four left who haven't been tracked down. The agency says it's still investigating why the paperwork was left unfinished.