This whole issue has been badly handled by many parties but particularly the media. There has been a fundamental misrepresentation of what a smear test is and what it tells you. I can't believe that journalists reporting on this didn't know the details beforehand, or upon their own research (5 minutes on Google), after the story broke.
This indemnity that those Labs are seeking could and should be a deal breaker. With the litigious nature of Irish people, pushed by the untouchable legal industry, the costs of this could be unimaginable.It seems that the labs who do the work now want the government to indemnify them for legal claims arising from false negatives. Their insurance covers negligence claims, but they can't be insured for bizarre claims of false negatives.
Probably.Is this too much to ask?
So some details of the Scally report were leaked to the Press. It is not right that this should have happened. One of the people central to the subject was "upset" and the other had to cancel spending the day with her children. I feel for both. But, are these leaks worth making a sacred cow of gigantic proportion? Positive action is what is required after the report. The leaks are just side shows which we can do without. What is vital here is that the recommendations of the report should be implemented asap. Let's not lose sight of the recommendations.
No test is 100% accurate but the problem here isn't the labs but the HSE process around it which seems to assume it is.
It is an indirect screening test, not a direct diagnostic test, it is checking for cell changes not cancer cells.
They need to be clearer to the people taking the test that at least 1 in 10 of tests will be a 'false negative', i.e. missed an actual cancer.
Absolutely agree with this. The big issue here is the way it was handled and the focus on the reputation of the programme over peoples health. The harsh reality is that the screening programme and the consultants/doctors etc are accessing patients data for the patient. The patient owns the data and has an absolute right to be made immediately aware if they have been told incorrect information. Otherwise why bother give the patient the results at all. No programme/consultant/doctor has the right to hide someones personal or medical information from them for any reason.I would say the same about the leak. It's not a sideshow, it is the show
The government could always make it illegal to publish state information which was leaked prior to formal publication, and have a legal responsibility to report any leak they are aware of to the gardai.Fresh news is a commodity on which the Press can make money. These are not the first leaks and won't be the last.
My understanding is that 20 out of every 100 tests are false negatives and 5 of those 20 will be a cancer diagnosis. The reason it is 5 in 20 is that, as you pointed out, the smear tests looks for abnormal cells which can be a sign of cancer. In one in four of the incidents where abnormal cells are present it is as a result of cancer.No test is 100% accurate but the problem here isn't the labs but the HSE process around it which seems to assume it is.
It is an indirect screening test, not a direct diagnostic test, it is checking for cell changes not cancer cells.
They need to be clearer to the people taking the test that at least 1 in 10 of tests will be a 'false negative', i.e. missed an actual cancer.
http://www.thejournal.ie/smear-tests-hse-3990242-May2018/
As Scally himself says, we need to be very careful in interpreting these figures.They need to be clearer to the people taking the test that at least 1 in 10 of tests will be a 'false negative', i.e. missed an actual cancer.
http://www.thejournal.ie/smear-tests-hse-3990242-May2018/
I think the Pap test is what has been used up to now. Out of 1,000 tests 5 are a false negative, that is a 0.5% chance not 10%. Interestingly almost 10% get false positives, which presumably get mostly sorted out after further investigation.“Scally” said:This review found that for every 1000 women screened, around 20 women
will have precancerous changes. The HPV test will correctly identify 18 of
these women (but will miss 2 women). The Pap test will identify 15 of the
women (but will miss 5 women). The women who are missed could develop
cervical cancer.
For every 1000 women screened, there will be 980 women who will not
have precancerous changes. The HPV test will correctly identify 881
women (but 99 women will be incorrectly told that they have a lesion). The
Pap test will correctly identify 885 women (but 95 will be incorrectly told that
they have a lesion). Women who are incorrectly told that they have a lesion
may have their cervix examined or may receive surgery unnecessarily.
They need to be clearer to the people taking the test that at least 1 in 10 of tests will be a 'false negative', i.e. missed an actual cancer.
http://www.thejournal.ie/smear-tests-hse-3990242-May2018/
Fair enough with the false negative results - but there are a number of people reported in the media who encountered multiple false negatives. The odds of this reduce pretty quickly,
If women are not clear on what the test is and all of the details around it that is 100% the fault of their GP.
some in the general public believe the far more serious accusation that the non disclosure meant they did not get the correct medical treatment.
That is a fairly ignorant retort and not like you cremeegg.Was that not the case. Certainly the media coverage I have seen gave the impression that women are dying.
That is a fairly ignorant retort and not like you cremeegg.
No! No! No! I thought that until I read Scally. I like you just heard a media thunderous outcry and felt cover ups must have been responsible for, say, Vicky Phelan’s claim. Think of it, the non disclosure arose from the audit of the screening of those women who had actually contracted the disease so it turned up no new medical evidence.I think we may be at cross purposes here.
I do not understand what exactly has happened.
Were there not women whose cancer treatment was delayed because of non-disclosure. If not why did the courts make large awards.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?