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Almost 200 N.B. cancer patients received too-low doses of chemo drugs

FILE -- An appeals court has sided with a hospital that wants to force a 10-year-old Amish girl to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments. PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – The Saint John Regional Hospital in New Brunswick is informing patients that they received lower than intended doses of a chemotherapy drug used to treat certain cancers and other medical conditions.

In a statement, the hospital says 186 patients received lower than intended doses of cyclophosphamide.

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As each case is patient-specific, the hospital is encouraging those affected and their families to talk with their doctor.

The hospital has purchased the drug from a supplier since March 2012 and is working with the supplier to determine the cause of the error.

Dr. John Dornan, the hospital’s chief of staff, says such incidents are rare but that the hospital is taking the matter seriously.

On Tuesday, four Ontario hospitals announced they were contacting close to 1,000 cancer patients because of the same problem.

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