REDBRIDGE: Breast cancer doctor guilty

7:50pm Tuesday 25th September 2007

A DOCTOR whose mistakes lead to hundreds of women in Redbridge being wrongly cleared of breast cancer has been found guilty of misconduct.

Consultant radiologist, Kong Fa Lan Keng Lun, was lead clinician in charge of the Epping breast screening unit at St Margaret's Hospital in Epping from March 2003 to November 2004.

A total of 5,765 cases dealt with at the clinic during that time had to be reviewed, and 18 women who had been given the all clear were later found to have cancer.

In their ruling this afternoon the General Medical Council (GMC) told the doctor: "The nature of the allegations proven against you amount to a serious departure from the standards expected of a registered medical practitioner.

"The panel is in no doubt that your fitness to practise is impaired both by reason of your misconduct and deficient professional performance."

The problem only came to light when equipment used to take biopsies was seriously damaged after being wrongly set up. Two radiographers, who Dr Lan Keng Lun was supposed to be training were taught to override the machine's safety mechanism and in some cases were taking biopsies from the wrong areas.

Frances Nathan of Gardner Close, Wanstead, who had to have a mastectomy after being cleared by the clinic said the panel's verdict was absolutely marvellous'.

She added: "I can't tell you how I welcome it is. He doesn't know what a mastectomy was like and I'm here to tell the tale but no thanks to him.

"I had four biopsies in a row with no anaesthetic and then he had the gall to say to me I will write to you in a week or so with your report and then two months later I was still waiting for it. He said everything is OK. Like hell it was."

The panel told Dr Lan Keng Lun that the findings against him were wide ranging and serious. They are expected to decide what penalty to apply tomorrow.