The US laboratory that settled a High Court action taken by Vicky Phelan over her incorrect smear test results has said that what happened to Ms Phelan and her family was tragic and that it deeply regrets the outcome.
In a statement to RTÉ News, the Texas-based Clinical Pathology Laboratories said that it hopes the settlement reached will allow Ms Phelan to gain additional treatment and an improved prognosis and quality of life.
CPL said it is one of two US, and two Irish laboratories, that have provided Pap smear testing for the Irish cervical screening program since 2008.
The company added that these screens have been performed through manual examinations of individual slides, without the benefit of computer-based imaging and a separate HPV test, which together comprise the clinical standard in the US and many other countries for cervical cancer screening.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
CPL said that since 2008, more than three million screening tests were performed by it and the three other labs contracted by the HSE.
The company says this testing was performed to the highest quality standards but despite this, it is internationally recognised that no screening program is 100% effective and all have an inherent margin for error.
CPL says the results of cervical cancer screens conducted by its lab and the three others are well above the accepted accuracy rate for the type of screening specified by the HSE and have been continuously monitored and repeatedly endorsed by Irish health authorities and US agencies.
Ms Phelan has she said she is looking for more accountability, and that it needs to come from the HSE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Richard Curran she said she had asked for HSE Director General Tony O’Brien's resignation from the beginning and while she is glad it has happened, she said "this is not about him but he doesn’t seem to realise that."
When I appear in public - say at a Committee I conduct myself against a simple standard. Would I be happy for my children or my mother to see how I behave? I sometimes look across the room and hope their children will never see and hear how they behave.
— Tony O'Brien (@dghealthservice) May 11, 2018
She said his tweet this morning "smacks of someone getting his own way, throwing one's toys out of the pram springs to mind."
Ms Phelan said she received a phone call from the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, this morning and he told her what steps he is putting in place to deal with this.
"He knows, no more than we all know, that there are other people involved. More heads will have to roll and now that Tony O' Brien has stepped down and he is the head of the HSE, there will definitely be people who are going to be worried about their positions. But they should start considering them at this stage"
She said Mr O’Brien's use of the word "hysteria" at an Oireachtas Committee yesterday sent her over the edge.
Ms Phelan said she listened to Emma Mhic Mhathúna's interview yesterday on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland and believes it was what pushed Tony going over the edge.
"It was the turning point in the stand-off regarding the tenability of his position. No one could stay in a position after a powerful interview like that."
