In this edition, a multitude of (allegedly) misread mammograms. And Mayo Clinic gets slapped with the first lawsuit over the notorious RT hepatitis C case.

Canadian medical college orders review of 15,000 X-rays

A Canadian medical college has ordered a review of thousands of X-rays after fearing a radiologist might have misread exams.

The Quebec College of Physicians said last week it had ordered 15,000 X-rays films to be re-read. The exams, 85 percent of which are mammograms, were read by one radiologist who worked at two Montreal clinics and one in Laval for the past two years, according to the Montreal Gazette.

The radiologist, who wasn't named, is barred from reading further exams pending the examination, which could take six months. But the college hopes to inform all patients whose X-rays were examined by the end of the year.

The college said it suspected something was amiss because the radiologist's anomaly rate was below the standard 15 percent for mammography, according to Dr. Yves Robert, secretary of the college. However, Robert also said two years ago similar suspicions were raised about a South Shore radiologist, but an investigation found the doctor's diagnoses matched local norms.

"Radiology is very good in Quebec," Robert told the Montreal Gazette. "But from time to time, one individual (radiologist) might be an outlier."

Ex-radiologic tech faces felony charges for mishandling mammos

A Houston radiologic technician accused of mishandling more than 1,000 mammograms faces an arraignment hearing Wednesday, WRWR radio reports.

Rachael Michelle Rapraeger, an RT who worked at Houston Healthcare, is charged with 10 felony counts of computer forgery and 10 counts of misdemeanor reckless misconduct, WRWR said.

The 30-year-old ex-tech allegedly reported there was nothing wrong on nearly 1,289 mammograms without consulting a physician first to read the exams, according to the report. A re-scanning determined at least 10 women needed medical attention, WRWR said.

Rapraeger, released on $50,000 bond in October, has pled not guilty, according to her lawyer, Floyd M. Buford Jr. A trial date could be delayed pending a run-off election for the district attorney's office later this month, WRWR said.

Mayo Clinic hit with first lawsuit over hepatitis C death

Mayo Clinic Florida has been slapped with the first lawsuit over a death possibly linked to hepatitis C spread by a radiologic technician at the hospital, First Coast News reports.

Peggy Wolford, the 62-year-old widow of a Vietnam veteran who died in September 2008 after receiving two liver transplants at the hospital in 2006 and 2008, is filing a medical malpractice suit against the Jacksonville hospital.

Wolford's lawyers said last week that her husband, Dennis, tested negative for hepatitis C prior to the transplants. However, he was believed to have received the painkiller Fentanyl. This summer, Mayo Clinic Florida issued a statement saying an ex-employee was sacked for injecting himself with Fentanyl and then re-using the syringes with patients.

The RT, identified as Steven Beumel, 47, by the local sheriff's office, was only charged with diverting drugs, because he did not know he was infected by the virus at the time, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He was released on bail in early September.

The clinic has alerted more than 5,000 patients of the risk of having contracted hepatitis C infection from their time at the hospital. So far, three patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C that is genetically similar to the kind Beumel contracted, the Sentinel reported. Two of those patients have since died, one from the virus, according to the newspaper.

Mayo Clinic said it could not comment on the lawsuit.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the family for the difficulties following the loss of their loved one," a clinic spokesman said. "Mayo Clinic does not comment on pending litigation."