A GARDA superintendent is battling stage four skin cancer after his doctor failed to send him for further investigative surgery that would have given him up to a 95 per cent chance of survival, a medical hearing in Cork heard yesterday.
Father of three Supt Martin Dorney, from Waterfall, Ballincollig, Co Cork, presented to his GP Dr Pat Lee in August 2003 with a mole on his right thigh. Supt Dorney became concerned about an apparent change in the appearance of the mole and his doctor excised it and sent it to the pathology department at Cork University Hospital (CUH) for examination. A report back from the hospital indicated that the mole was not malignant.
However, a recommendation was made that Supt Dorney attend at the hospital for a wider local incision procedure. The mole was described as markedly dysplastic in nature, often a precursor to melanoma.
Dr Lee admitted that he skimmed the report following his return from a holiday and missed the recommendations laid out by the hospital. He subsequently told Supt Dorney that the mole was benign.
When Supt Dorney was found to have skin cancer six years later, his doctor re-read the initial report, realised the error and tried to conceal the truth from his patient and other medical professionals, the hearing was told.
Supt Dorney told the Medical Council Fitness to Practise inquiry that he was devastated when doctors informed him of his cancer diagnosis last year.
He spoke of the breach of trust by Dr Lee, who claimed he did not receive the initial recommendation of further investigations in 2003 due to an administrative error.
“His [Dr Lee’s response] was that because of an administrative error in his surgery that me and my family were facing down the barrel of a gun. He eventually [at a later appointment] admitted that he realised his mistake.
“The explanation he gave me was that he had been on holidays. He came back and a number of reports were waiting for him and he skimmed through the report and didn’t see or appreciate the wider local incision comment. Dr Lee’s son is in the same year in school as my son and she [my wife] asked did he hope to be going to his graduation. When she asked if I would be there he could not answer.”
Supt Dorney said statistics suggested that someone with his stage of cancer statistically had six to nine months to live.
Dr Lee said that he panicked last year when he realised that he had missed the recommendations of the 2003 medical report. He said he sought to alter the report in the hope that he could cover it up but told the hearing that he could not live with his actions.
“I was stunned at the fact that I had missed the recommendations. I was stunned I was responsible for the suffering this man and his family were going through. I should have conveyed the full facts. I tried to misappropriate the blame from myself and on to my practice. It was a move that was both uncharacteristic and unprofessional of me.”
Dr Lee told the panel at the hearing that he now had a double checking system in place for reports. He added that he could not apologise enough for his actions and that his failure to follow correct procedure was a source of immense regret to him.
Dr Lee attended the hearing yesterday to face allegations of professional misconduct and poor professional conduct.
He admitted concealing the full contents of the report from the patient in 2009 when he realised his mistake. However, he denied failing to apply appropriate standards of care.
Three character witnesses described Dr Lee as an exemplary doctor who is much loved by the community in Ballincollig.
The panel at the Silversprings Moran Hotel hearing retired for close to an hour but subsequently decided to postpone giving recommendations in the case.
A report on the hearing will be published over the next few months.
Supt Dorney, who is 50 and has spent 30 years with the Garda, is well respected for his investigative work in high-profile cases such as the death of Robert Holohan in Midleton and the murder of Cobh teenager Sheola Keaney.