Alberta doctor made inaccurate claims about cancer rates near oilsands: report

CALGARY — A doctor who said cancer rates were higher in a small aboriginal community downstream of Alberta's oilsands made misleading and inaccurate statements and obstructed Health Canada and the Alberta Cancer Board in their efforts to investigate his claims, the College of Physicians and Surgeons has concluded.

The report marks the end of an almost three-year investigation into the actions of Dr. John O'Connor, a Fort Chipewyan family physician who alleged residents had unusually high rates of certain cancers. At times he said there had been six deaths related to colon cancer in one year and that he had seen anywhere between three and five cases of a rare cancer of the bile ducts, the report states.

Reached in Nova Scotia, O'Connor denied he had stood in Health Canada's way as they tried to investigate the cancer claims.

"I don't understand why this conclusion was reached by the (college)," he told the Calgary Herald.

"I had no part whatsoever in obstructing. My role as a visiting physician did not allow me to . . . allow or disallow access (to patients' files)."

In January 2007, three doctors lodged a complaint with the college, saying O'Connor had obstructed the Alberta Cancer Board and Health Canada in their investigation into his concerns, and that his comments were inaccurate, harmed members of the Fort Chipewyan community and resulted in a loss of credibility for those health bodies in the eyes of those living there and in other aboriginal communities.

Dr. Hakique Virani, one of those three doctors who lodged the complaint about O'Connor, said they tried for 18 months to get O'Connor to co-operate with a cancer study undertaken by the federal body and Alberta Health and Wellness.

"It was the last resort we had," he said of the complaint. "We're satisfied with the findings of the report."

The college also stated Dr. John O'Connor failed to provide evidence supporting his allegations and to report all suspected cases of cancer to the Alberta board, despite having a "legal and ethical obligation" to do so.

O'Connor said he's happy the investigation is over and — despite having this hanging over him for almost three years — he's pleased cancers in the Fort Chipewyan community will continue to be thoroughly studied.

"From Day 1 I said, 'Could this be related to bad luck, bad lifestyles, genetics? Or could it be related to environmental influences?" he said. "I'm happy we can now move on and get to the bottom of what's happening."

Several meetings have been lined up to determine how to move ahead with monitoring cancer in the community, O'Connor added.

O'Connor's comments speculating on a connection between increased cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan — about 720 kilometres northeast of Edmonton — and the oilsands upstream garnered international attention.

However, the college concluded it could neither prove nor disprove the suggestion that O'Connor's public statements harmed the Fort Chipewyan community or diminished Health Canada's credibility.

The cancer study eventually found there had been two cases of the rare cancer and six cases of colon cancer — O'Connor had reported 12, the report said. The college's report also states there was a higher-than-expected overall rate of cancer, but that "could be due to chance."

"The report did find there may have been a slight elevation in the number of cancers," Virani said, but added that there could have been increased detection because of the study.

O'Connor acknowledged he made an error at the beginning when it came to the number of cancer cases.

He said clinical cases suggested strongly that there were cancer cases in the community, but they had to be officially diagnosed by oncologists and specialists.

"I said I diagnosed cases of cancer and I didn't," he said. "I corrected myself."

O'Connor does not face any disciplinary action.

Virani said he and the two other doctors, Dr. Wadieh Yacoub and Dr. Salim Samanani, didn't feel imposing a penalty was necessary.

"The point was for the truth to be known," he said. "We wanted to complete the cancer cluster study and we couldn't do that. . . ."

After the complaint was filed, some said they thought health officials were trying to muzzle O'Connor to keep him from speaking with the media.

Alberta Health spokesman Howard May said those allegations are not borne out by the facts.

"We've bent over backwards to do the opposite," he said.