A former Sunrise Health Region radiologist at the heart of a multi-million dollar review of diagnostic images has launched legal action against the SHR, Provincial Health Minister Don McMorris, and the Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Darius Tsatsi maintains in his statement of claim filed in the Regina Court of Queen's Bench on May 20 that the SHR, McMorris and the College defamed him by issuing inaccurate statements that have destroyed his reputation.
The statement of claim seeks unspecified damages along with a public apology. Tsatsi also demands he be given his position back or else an equivalent position.
The allegations by Tsatsi, which haven't been proven in court, relate to a review ordered by SHR and the Ministry of Health of nearly 70,000 radiological examinations conducted by Tsatsi.
That review-which ended up costing about $4 million-was launched in May 2009 after the College questioned some of Dr. Tsatsi's interpretations of 68,360 tests, including mammograms, CT Scans, and ultrasounds.
The review was sparked after a quality assurance audit the previous year. That audit addressed 102 diagnostic tests that were interpreted by Dr. Tsatsi, who began working in the Health Region in 2004.
In the May 2009 press conference announcing the review of Tsatsi's work, the health region indicated that Tsatsi had agreed to voluntarily stop practicing until the review and a College hearing could be completed.
When the review was completed 13 months later, the radiologists from outside the Health Region who re-read the tests found a difference of interpretation from Tsatsi's in 12,871, or 18.8 percent, of the tests.
Of those, 1,988 or 2.91 percent were considered to have the potential to affect patient care.
In January 2010, the College barred Tsatsi from practicing in Saskatchewan.
According to a published report, Tsatsi's statement of claim states that comments by McMorris and by representatives of SHR and the College "contained serious allegations against the plaintiff...which give the words a defamatory meaning inferentially or by innuendo". Those comments, according to the lawsuit, purport Tsatsi to be, among other things, "a risk to society."
Furthermore, the statement of claim says, according to a published report, "Whenever the plaintiff was assessed by radiologists outside of Saskatchewan he was found to be competent and displaying knowledge and a skill similar to his peers."
Sunrise Director of Communications Sharon Tropin said it would be inappropriate for the Health Region to comment on the matter while it is before the courts.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tsatsi is himself a target of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the patients whose exam results were brought into question. That suit, filed in April of 2010, names Tsatsi and the regional health authorities of Sunrise, Cypress, and Prince Albert Parkland as defendants.
The claim cites alleged "omissions and wrongdoing" by Tsatsi and tolerance of "inferior quality health care" by the health authorities.
- YTW Staff
