Faulty test fears at three hospitals

WOMEN who underwent pregnancy tests at three hospitals in the midwest may yet find out they are pregnant despite being told they were not.

Yesterday, the Health Service Executive (HSE) West confirmed six hospitals in Limerick, Tipperary and Clare, had been supplied with pregnancy test kits that were part of a faulty batch. Of the six, concerns remain in relation to three hospitals — the Mid-West Regional Hospital in Ennis, Co Clare; the Mid-West Regional Hospital in Nenagh, Co Tipperary; and the Mid- West Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom, Co Limerick.

Stocks of the faulty kit supplied to the other three hospitals were either not used or urine samples supplied by the women as part of the pregnancy test were still in the laboratory, allowing re-testing. All the repeat tests were negative.

However in the Ennis hospital, the test kit was used in A&E for female patients who presented with abdominal pain and needed a PFA (platelet function analyser) X-ray. All A&E records at the Ennis hospital are now being reviewed in an effort to determine how many women underwent a pregnancy test using the faulty kit.

Similar efforts are under way at the Mid-West Regional Hospital in Nenagh. A statement from the HSE yesterday said it was working on calculating the number of women affected at the Nenagh hospital.

“A faulty batch of Clearview HCG Pregnancy test kits was in use. Exact numbers of patients tested is being calculated as it involves review of request forms. Patients are mainly GP referrals and surgical patients,” the statement said.