Seven people have been diagnosed with cancer following a number of botched colonoscopies performed or supervised by a surgeon near the Victorian-NSW border.
Following an investigation, Safer Care Victoria (SCV) announced in January that almost 2000 patients had received “incomplete” colonoscopies in the Albury Wodonga region between 2018 and 2022.
It found some of the colonoscopies performed or supervised by Dr Liu-Ming Schmidt were insufficient in duration and lacked thoroughness, which could compromise the accuracy of identifying potential diagnoses.
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As a result, SCV announced a recall program in which 1084 repeat colonoscopies were performed.
The recall process officially concluded in July.
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On Friday, the SCV’s final report on the recall was published, in which it found seven people had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer following their repeat colonoscopy.
SCV said it was not possible to know whether the cancer would have been detected during the patient’s original colonoscopy or if they had developed the disease after the fact, however admitted it would have been a “distressing experience”.
“They are all undergoing treatment and are hopeful of a full recovery,” the healthcare safety watchdog said.
Several patients were also found to have died during the recall process, however none of these people were found to have died as a result of their original colonoscopy.
Schmidt was practising at Albury Wodonga Health, Albury Wodonga Private Hospital and Insight Private Hospital.
In December 2022, an inquest examined the death of one of Schmidt’s patients, William Edmunds, who died following complications after a procedure to remove part of his bowel.
Schmidt is no longer practising medicine.
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