Medical records of chemotherapy bungle victim Andrew Knox disappeared

CHEMOTHERAPY bungle victim Andrew Knox says his confidential medical records have disappeared — “probably destroyed” — as the patient records scandal widens.

26/11/15 Andrew Knox in the Advertiser studio. Andrew was a chemo therapy patient given the wrong dose two days after the mistake was discovered. He is accusing the Royal Adelaide Hospital of covering up the mistake which could potentially kill him. photo Calum Robertson

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CHEMOTHERAPY bungle victim Andrew Knox says his confidential medical records have disappeared — “probably destroyed” — as the patient records scandal widens.

Mr Knox says he now cannot be sure whether he was given too much or too little chemotherapy in the debacle — exclusively revealed by The Advertiser— and accused SA Health bureaucrats of misleading Health Minister Jack Snelling.

Two other patients caught in the dosage scandal have died.

SA Health has denied the records are missing.

Ten patients were given incorrect doses of a cancer drug at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre over six months from 2014, and a subsequent inquiry this month refer­red eight clinicians to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).

However, when Mr Knox tried to match his own patient records to those mentioned in the inquiry he found they no longer existed.

“I believe the integrity of my patient records has not been maintained and in fact I am concerned that critical records may have been destroyed,” Mr Knox, 66, said.

“There is not a single record that reflects the actual dose that I purportedly received.

“Something is not right. The authority to give me prescriptions and those doses no longer exists.”

Chief executive of the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network Professor Belinda Moyes refuted Mr Knox’ claim.

“No medical records of Mr Knox have been destroyed,” she said.

“I can confirm his full record is available at Flinders Medical Centre and available for Mr Knox to view at any time.”

Mr Knox said a “cavalier” attitude towards patient records was “endemic” in SA Health and an independent judicial inquiry was needed because Mr Snelling had been “repeatedly misled by his department over the chemotherapy bungle and subsequent cover-up”.

He also noted the AHPRA inquiry could take 12 months or more, then the Medical Board and Pharmacy Board would use those findings to make a decision on whether to refer anyone to the Health Practitioners Tribunal for possible deregistration, whose hearing could take another two years.

He fears most of the victims will be dead by such time.

“Unless there is a judicial inquiry we won’t get to the bottom of it,” he said, saying the chemotherapy bungle and more recent scandal of clinicians snooping on patient records were “joined at the hip”.

“This is the tip of the iceberg and deep down underneath it is life-threatening.”

Mr Knox’ support for an independent inquiry come as more questions arise over unauthorised access to patient records by SA Health staff, including how widespread it is and whether patients have been told of the privacy breach.

At least 21 clinicians across the system have accessed the records of at least nine patients in the past year without authorisation, including 13 who snooped on Cy Walsh’s records after he was taken to Flinders Medical Centre following the stabbing death of his father Crows coach Phil Walsh at the family home in July.

In other cases, six clinicians have been disciplined and two sacked. SA Health so far has been unable to confirm whether patients in all cases have been told of the invasion of privacy.

Officials are not revealing whether the breaches were uncovered by a small-scale sample audit or an audit of all records.