US hospital reviews smears read by lab at centre of Phelan case

A US hospital has launched a full review of smear tests screened by the medical company which paid €2.5m to Vicky Phelan as concern grows across the Atlantic about the accuracy of testing.

Baylor College of Medicine in Texas launched a probe into the diagnostic accuracy of the cervical smears it sends to Clinical Pathology Laboratories in Austin, Texas, in the wake of the cervical cancer screening scandal in Ireland.

The hospital said it was ordering an immediate investigation into the smears taken from women in the greater Houston area but it was unsure of how many women were involved.