In a decision released last month, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario fully vindicated Dr. Nancy Olivieri against complaints filed by the Hospital for Sick Children in April 2000. HSC alleged Olivieri failed to provide an appropriate standard of care regarding patients receiving the Apotex drug deferiprone (L1).

In a series of conclusions reached after careful consideration and consultation with an expert panel of specialists, the college unambiguously supported Olivieri's actions: "Dr. Olivieri ceased to administer L1 in a timely and expedient way, and in a manner which was in the best interests of her patients," the Dec. 19 decision says.

"Dr. Olivieri acted reasonably and appropriately in the manner in which she terminated the use of L1 in her patients after learning of the potential toxicity of the drug . . . Dr. Olivieri's judgment in advising patients to undergo biopsies was not only reasonable, but commendable in the circumstances . . . Dr. Olivieri appeared very concerned about notifying all of the appropriate people, and was diligent in communicating and publishing her data."

Olivieri has called on hospital administrators to give the same publicity to the college's findings as it did to the hospital's original referral of "concerns."

"Although such referrals are generally kept confidential," Olivieri wrote the hospital's board of trustees' chair Alexander Aird in late December, "your referral was accompanied with a press conference . . . (and) forwarded that day in an announcement over Canada NewsWire.

"The hospital's administration also established a teleconference line allegedly to enable the public (none of whom had initiated a complaint) to discuss my referral to the college with members of the administration. Finally, the details of the referral have remained on the HSC web site since April 2000.

"It is unjust that the unprecedented publicity accompanying the referral of these ‘concerns' has not been matched by announcements of equivalent prominence regarding my acquittal by the very body you considered to be invested with power to review such ‘concerns'," Olivieri said.

Olivieri has asked HSC to hold a press conference announcing the college's decision, issue a press release through Canada NewsWire, establish another teleconference for the public to inquire about this decision, list the details of the decision in the hospital's weekly in-house newsletter, and post the full decision on the HSC web site "so that all those who have been told about my alleged misconduct might now learn the truth." No reply has yet been received from Aird.

The college's decision mirrored the conclusions of the Thompson inquiry whose report in late October found HSC's internal proceedings "were fundamentally flawed by unfairness."

The committee of inquiry specifically noted that "allegations and testimony against Dr. Olivieri were received by the MAC (the hospital's Medical Advisory Committee) and given credence despite their being contradicted by the documentary record and the medical literature."

The report noted that senior hospital officials "cooperated in putting forward testimony (against Dr. Olivieri) that was incorrect, incomplete or misleading."

It also found that "the MAC called no witnesses who were experts in the relevant medical disciplines; instead it uncritically accepted as true, testimony from these persons without recognized expertise in this field."

On April 27, 2000 HSC's Medical Advisory Committee recommended to the board of trustees that Olivieri be referred to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

"Attempts to discredit Dr. Olivieri," the committee of inquiry report noted, "had the effect of serving the interests of Apotex, an aspect of whose licensing submissions for L1 was an attempt to discredit her, and to dispute the risks of the drug she identified."

Both the 18-page complaints committee decision and reasons of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the CAUT-commissioned 500-page Olivieri committee of inquiry report are available at www.caut.ca. The Olivieri Report, published by James Lorimer & Company Ltd., is also available in bookstores or through Formac Distributing 1-800-565-1975.