Chemo underdosing ‘could have been avoided by SA Health’, says sacked pathology boss

THE underdosing of chemotherapy patients “could have been avoided” if SA Health had not “blocked” reforms that SA Pathology had tried to implement, sacked boss Ken Barr says.

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THE underdosing of chemotherapy patients “could have been avoided” if SA Health had not “blocked” reforms that SA Pathology had tried to implement, sacked boss Ken Barr says.

Mr Barr has written to a parliamentary committee examining underdosing of 10 chemotherapy patients in 2014 and 2015, warning there is a “culture of fear and blame” in SA Health following a series of mistakes.

This had prompted health workers to “think carefully before considering whether to report risks”, he said.

A spokeswoman for SA Health said the department “categorically refutes” the claims.

The former SA Pathology executive director was sacked in April over a bungle that falsely diagnosed about 100 men with prostate cancer.

At the time, Health Minister Jack Snelling said Mr Barr had overseen a “cover-up”, which had created distress among patients who wrongly believed they had cancer.

However, Mr Barr later rejected Mr Snelling’s claim, saying he believed he was made a scapegoat because of the numerous controversies at SA Health.

Today Mr Barr released a letter he has written to members of the parliamentary Select Committee on Chemotherapy Dosing Errors.

In it he warns that implementing changes recommended in a 2012 review of SA Pathology practices “may have enabled the incorrect AML dosage protocol to be discovered and corrected, avoiding the dosage errors”.

The SA Health spokeswoman said Mr Barr’s employment at SA Health “was terminated for failing to advise of the systemic problem of PSA testing at SA Pathology and failing to respond in a reasonable way to the incident”.

“He also failed to appropriately manage other serious issues such as the acute myeloid leukaemia incident and the installation of covert cameras at SA Pathology,” she said.

“SA Health categorically refutes the claims made in his submission to the select committee”.

Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said Mr Barr’s letter was a “damning” warning to the Government.

Mr Wade reiterated calls for a judicial inquiry into SA Health’s handling of chemotherapy treatment.

“The Government continues to tell us ‘There’s nothing to see here, go away’,” he said.

Health MinisterMr Snelling declined to comment.