Hospitals ran no checks on Finnish pathologist

THE Irish employers of a Finnish pathologist who worked as a locum in hospitals in Galway and Cork never bothered to run a check with the Helsinki hospital where his work was found to be negligent.

In 2006, Dr Antoine Geagea was placed on leave for health reasons by the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital.

But, while his Finnish employers thought he was taking sick leave, Dr Geagea was taking up a position with University Hospital Galway and later with Cork University Hospital.

Neither hospital nor the HSE has commented on the matter as separate inquiries are under way.

Last night, Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen asked why this latest information had not been presented to the Dáil.

He said he raised the issue during an adjournment debate on Tuesday night and these details should have been disclosed then.

“Either it is indifference or incompetence, but even on Tuesday the Minister Mary Harney didn’t seem to be on top of the situation. Throughout this whole thing information has been coming out because it takes the media and journalists to do the research instead of the officials responsible for knowing what is going on,” said Mr Allen.

The Finnish press has reported that in 2006 Dr Geagea was placed on leave for health reasons by the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital. Dr Geagea worked in Galway from September 2006 to March 2007 and in Cork in July and August 2007.

The Finnish authorities have a five-step system of sanctions where doctors are accused of alleged medical negligence. Dr Geagea was at the third stage in relation to investigations into work he carried out at a private medical facility while he was also working at a public hospital in Helsinki.

Dr Geagea had had third-level sanctions imposed on him by the Finnish equivalent of the medical council.

The second sanction, on September 11, 2006, involved the misdiagnosis of a woman who underwent a mastectomy but was found not to have breast cancer. The misdiagnosis took place at a laboratory run by the Geagea family.

Dr Geagea has denied being reprimanded by Finnish medical authorities and has gone on record as saying he was on free leave and not sick leave when he applied for the jobs in Ireland.