Chemo cancer error: patient seethes over bungle

ONE of the ten seriously ill patients underdosed in the chemotherapy bungle has slammed the State Government for making light of the potentially fatal error and failing to give the families adequate support.

Question Time in the South Australian Parliament. [PIC] SA Minister Jack Snelling address parliament during question time. pic by Bianca De marchi - 17.3.15

• Critical chemo ‘typo’ error: How The Advertiser broke the story
• Patient paid, then gagged by Royal Adelaide Hospital

ONE of the ten seriously ill patients underdosed in the chemotherapy bungle has slammed the State Government for making light of the potential fatal error and failing to give the families adequate support.

The man in his 60s said patients with acute myeloid leukaemia knew their chances of survival were not high but the Government’s response to publicity about the error had been callous.

“I am disgusted with the way the politicians have handled this, the way they have politicised it and made light of it,” he told The Advertiser.

“We might know that our chances of survival are not terribly high but for them to stand there and say it wouldn’t have made much difference is absolutely disgraceful. I don’t believe anyone could be that callous just for political gain.”

The man was diagnosed in November last year and underwent three rounds of chemotherapy at the Flinders Medical Centre before being called in February and told he had been underdosed in two of the treatments.

The man has received a top-up dose and has regular blood checks. He also sees his specialist every few months but he said the impact on him had been profound.

Sufferers of acute myeloid leukaemia have a 40 per cent chance of surviving for two years at which point their outlook improves dramatically. He said he felt his chances had been jeopardised.

“I thought I had a pretty good chance of being on the right side of the equation, or better,” he said. “When this came out, they said ‘we don’t know, we can’t tell you.’ To say I’m nervous would be an understatement.”

He also worries in retrospect that he came through the final round of treatment in better shape than he expected and fears this was because he had received an insufficient dose of the drug whose job is to destroy cancerous bone marrow.

“I was pretty poleaxed but not as poleaxed as I might have been,” he said. “I know deep down I’m waiting for the call.’’

The mistake occurred because of a typo in the treatment protocols relied on by doctors and pharmacists at the RAH and FMC between July and January, which meant patients received one dose of the drug Cytarbine instead of two a day.

The man said he and his family were not given psychological support and were distressed by statements made by the State Government and SA Health once news of the mix-up broke in The Advertiser on Saturday.

“I should have thought that by nine or 10 o’clock on Saturday someone ought to have been on the phone from the department to all of us saying it was going to be a very distressing day,” he said. “Nobody made any attempt to say ‘we need to warn you’ because it’s pretty traumatic for the families who are all hoping we won’t die.”

He was also angry with the Premier, Jay Weatherill, for his statement on Saturday the 10 patients were being provided with “whatever assistance they needed”.

“Well, we have had no support, we haven’t heard a word, not a single word other than our specialists looking after us in the normal way,” the man said. “Has anybody done anything else other than that first meeting? Hell no. Not a single thing. No ‘how are you doing?’ Nothing. I am completely hopping mad.”

The Health Minister, Jack Snelling, yesterday distanced himself from SA Health’s use of a confidentiality clause to silence another patient who pursued a compensation claim after relapsing. He said he would never insist on confidentiality clauses and welcomed patients speaking out.

“I have to admit it’s not a good look,” Mr Snelling said. “All I can say is that as Health Minister I have no problem with individuals where something has gone wrong — and clearly here it has — telling their story and making it known and holding people to account.”

Mr Snelling said he understood people’s concern when something went wrong in the medical system.

“No matter what checks and balances you put in place, mistakes are going to happen and they are going to fall through the cracks,” he said. “What we do make sure of is when a mistake is made, we rectify it straight away and that’s what’s happened in this case.”