A woman in her fifties has been diagnosed with incurable cancer, two years after she was given clear cervical screening by the Icelandic Cancer Society, Fréttablaðið and Indicator report.
In light of this shocking revelation, an audit of 6,000 samples is taken, taken between 2017 and 2019. Of these, 1,800 have already been reviewed and 45 women have been told to return for further testing. The Cancer Society claims that none of these findings are as serious as the previous case.
Samples traced to one employee
It was also found that these samples were all taken by the same employee, who had recently returned from work after a long sick leave. Although the Cancer Society asserted that the employee showed no signs of ill health on his return to work, colleagues later expressed concern about his mental health.
Former Minister of Health Álfheiður Ingadóttir says she is angry that an individual, now a working employee, is being blamed and that the conduct of society is immoral. The Cancer Society, however, denies any wrongdoing and said: “We have never said anything about the nature of the employee’s illness. However, it was inevitable to report that it was a human error and not a systemic or technical one “. The managing director of the Cancer Society, Halla Þorvalsdóttir, said that the responsibility lay with the society itself and not one employee.
Important data hidden
In another twist of the story, it appears that Sjúkratyggingar Íslands has withheld data from the Cancer Society which indicate that the research center in which the samples were first analyzed does not meet their conditions and has not been operated to their standards. When this information was available, the Cancer Society contacted the Central Bank to organize an emergency meeting, a request that was rejected.
In a statement issued Indicator, Halla Þorvaldsdóttir said that the company had no idea that SÍ had any issues with them. “These agreements are based on trust and the authorities who trust the company for this project. We have to assume that they trust that we meet the requirements. We know nothing else. So it would come as a great surprise to us, quite surprising, if the reality turned out to be that the Central Bank or other authorities rely on information that we do not meet the conditions set for the service. “The company intends to close the research center’s operations immediately, if SÍ can submit documents that support the comments.
Source: The Nordic Page