PRINCETON — A Princeton widow is raising questions about how the provincial health care system could have failed their family so badly.
Her late husband, Fred Cosman, was misdiagnosed twice and when it was discovered he had cancer, he was still waiting for treatment. The family got fed up and came to Global News last April. Within 24 hours, he was scheduled for an appointment.
Tina Krause believes any efforts to cure Cosman were useless because he had already been waiting too long.
Cosman died on January 19.
“People shouldn’t have to wait and people shouldn’t have to die for things that can be treated,” says Krause.
The provincial NDP health critic agrees.
“This man was clearly disfigured from cancerous lesions all across his nose. It took him two months to get into the cancer agency — that’s wrong. Action needs to be taken to shorten those wait lists,” says Judy Darcy.
Krause says two dermatologists misdiagnosed her husband, providing him with antibiotics. She questions why a biopsy wasn’t performed the first time.
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“It isn’t the purview of the minister to make judgement on clinical decision making. But it is important that we review the journey of this patient and understand if there were gaps in treatment and that we close those gap,” says Health Minister Terry Lake.
Minister Lake says the province’s Patient Quality Review Board will conduct an investigation into Cosman’s situation.
The B.C. Cancer Agency agrees that the family deserves answers, but it wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the case.
“Our goal at the B.C. Cancer Agency is to see all patients within four weeks of referral, and for urgent care, we’d like to patients in less than two weeks if possible,” says Dr. Ross Halperin.
When Global News asked if Cosman fell through the cracks since he had already been waiting two months before he contacted us, Dr. Halperin says he couldn’t provide a comment.
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