Winnipeg woman's cancer treatment delayed due to misplaced COVID-19 test result
A Winnipeg woman's treatment at Cancer Care Manitoba was delayed after her COVID-19 test results were misplaced due to a data error.
It's been a tough week for Tammy Casper and her family.
While most people were getting ready to celebrate the holiday season, she was coming to terms with a troubling diagnosis.
"I'm 45, and I got cancer. And you're trying to digest that, and then you get COVID-19."
Casper was diagnosed with leukemia in early December, and catching COVID-19 the next week added some challenges surrounding her treatment of the disease.
She said even though she'd already tested positive, she had to get another COVID-19 test done so Cancer Care Manitoba could assess her levels to see if she was contagious. After taking her new test, the results never came back.
"I heard nothing over the weekend. I heard nothing at the beginning of the week. Cancer Care is going 'okay, well we need you in here on (Jan. 13), but we've got nothing to go on.'"
Casper said after five days, she called Health Links to find the test results she'd never received.
After days of calling, she was informed that her test had been placed in a different filing system for people whose health information had an error.
"I'm on the top of my health card, and my husband is under me," Explained Casper.
"(The testing site) put my husband's birthdate with my information, so my test sat there as a positive test in limbo without me being contacted."
On Wednesday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced two new COVID-19 testing sites were opening up in Winnipeg to address the backlog of test results.
"We're able to report today that we have no backlog and that results are being provided in under a day," said Gordon.
But Casper wonders how many others have had their test results shelved due to an error.
She was able to go to Cancer Care and get some initial tests done as a COVID-19 suspect patient in isolation. However, she's still waiting to hear back from an infectious disease specialist to see if she's contagious before she can have normal access to Cancer Care.
"I want to get this going, I have a treatable leukemia, and I want to get it going so that it doesn't get to the point where it's not treatable anymore."
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for Cancer Care Manitoba (CCMB) said “Patients receiving treatment at CCMB are not generally tested prior to their appointment, although testing will be arranged if they are symptomatic. Patients requiring admission to hospital are tested upon admission, not in advance.”
Correction
The story has been updated to include more from Cancer Care Manitoba's statement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.