Misdiagnoses Lead to Recheck of 6,000 Tests

ATTLEBORO, Mass. —  A suburban hospital will recheck 6,000 tissue tests after finding that 19 men it had told did not have cancer actually did.

Sturdy Memorial Hospital said Thursday that it could not discuss the condition of the 17 living patients who were misdiagnosed for prostate cancer from 1995 to 1997.

Hospital President and CEO Linda Shyavitz also refused to specify how the tests were misread or to identify the two pathologists believed responsible.

“Medicine is a very complex science provided by humans who are fallible,” she said. “Our system broke down during this time.”

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, the hospital’s associate medical director, said a review of prostate tests from 1995 to 1997 was triggered in February after a positive test result for a patient contradicted an exam from 1996.

The urologist treating the patient brought the discrepancy to the attention of the hospital’s chief pathologist, who then ordered the full review.

Shyavitz defended the hospital’s delay in not notifying patients with misread tests until March and, in some cases, April. “We had to make sure we had all the facts together,” she said.

Shyavitz said all of the 17 men still alive are under the active care of a urologist. The two others died of causes unrelated to their prostate cancer, hospital officials have said.