PRINCE GEORGE
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 26,
Citizen
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Neale guilty of medical misconduct
Former patient says five-year ban is not enough
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
Following 30 years of botched surgeries and professional errors, former Prince George gynecologist Richard Neale has been struck from the British medical registry for five years by a disciplinary board in London.
Neale, who was found guilty of serious medical misconduct Tliesday, is eligible to reapply for reinstatement after five years, but if he’s refused twice, he will be barred permanently from medical practice.
A former patient of Neale at Prince
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Ann Landers........ ... .22
Bridge............. ....16
Business ........... .24-26
City, B.C...........3,5,6,11
Classified .......... 14-17
Comics ............ ...18
Crossword ......... ...18
Entertainment...... ...19
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Lifestyles........... ...22
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Nation............. 12,13
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Television.......... ...19
World ............. ...23
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George Regional Hospital, where he practiced from 1977 to 1979, is not happy with the decision.
“I can’t believe this. Five years?” said Doreen Cork of Vernon, a former Mackenzie resident who said she suffered the loss of a kidney from Neale’s mistakes.
“I think five years is just not enough. He should be banned from surgery for life,” said Cork.
Anita Louie of Prince George, who lost her pregnant mother following cervical surgery by Neale, said Tliesday that Neale’s licence “should be revoked permanently.
“He shouldn’t be given any opportunity to go back into practice. I’ve felt that way since these issues surfaced and I still feel the same,” said Louie.
Dr. Eldon Lee, a retired gynecologist who worked with Neale at PGRH, said the decision “is the way to go.” “While it says five years, in effect, it’s a lifetime in the career of a consultant like Neale. I don’t expect to see him practice again.”
“I have no animosity towards him, personally, but he was one that had to be put out of practice,” Lee said.
During the decision, Prof. Kenneth Hobbs, the board chairman, told the 54-year-old Neale, “Your history of professional errors, failure to accept responsibility and dishonesty leaves the committee in no doubt that you are guilty of serious professional misconduct.”
The decision comes after Neale was found to have bungled operations on 10 women over a 10-year
period ending in 1996. The board heard how he removed ovaries and carried out hysterectomies without consent, cut main arteries and ruptured bladders during operations.
But over the years, he’s said to have hurt scores of women in Britain, B.C. and Ontario, where he was struck from the registry in 1985 after Geraldine Krawchuk, 40, died 90 minutes after giving birth. It’s estimated Krawchuk had been given 10 times the safe amount of an unapproved drug to induce labour.
During his stint in Prince George, the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons investigated Neale’s work and sent him for a year of training, but in six months he was practicing in Ontario.
See more on page 23
RICHARD NEALE
Photo by David Mah
FAMILY PROJECT — Lil MacGillivray, right, receives landscaping help from her daughter Heather and husband Cecil on Freeman Street. The job, which took five days, involved removing the slope in the front yard and building a retaining wall.
Man pleads guilty to bomb threat
by KAREN KWAN Citizen staff
A 75-year-old man told a provincial court judge Tuesday he threatened to blow up the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre last November to protest Chinese migrants being housed at the jail.
With his elderly wife at his side, a frail Sandford William Goodine pleaded guilty to uttering a false message with intent to alarm. He was handed a suspended sentence of one year.
“At the time, I was drunk and I thought it was a joke,” he said.
“I’m on the receiving end of the odd bomb threat myself, so I can sympathize” with the complainants, Judge Vince Hogan told the couple.
“He was in the war and thinks he didn’t get the attention,” said Goodine’s wife, speaking to the judge on behalf of her husband, whom she said has a hearing disability.
“I know, he thinks they have steak and
colour TV up there,” Hogan replied.
On the night of Nov. 6,1999, Goodine called PGRCC twice and spoke with two corrections officers, telling them he had planted an explosive at the jail and planned to detonate it if the migrants were not removed, Crown counsel John Sutton said. He suggested a conditional sentence of 60 days, followed by two years’ probation, noting Goodine has a previous conviction in 1994 for uttering threats.
The woman told the court her husband was in poor health, saying, “I don’t think he’s going to be around for two years of probation.”
As a condition of his suspended sentence, Hogan ordered Goodine not to have any contact with PGRCC. “No phone calls no matter how agitated you are,” he said. “Your wife’s an excellent lawyer,” he added.
About 170 Chinese migrants remain at PGRCC, according to B.C. Corrections spokesperson Sheldon Green.
PGRH expansion set for mid-August
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
Look for the start of construction activity around Prince George Regional Hospital by mid-August as site preparations begin for a $50-million expansion and renovation project.
“With both PGRH redevelopment and detox centre construction, there will be significant activity around the hospital,” said Dave Richardson, CEO of Northern Interior Regional Health Board.
PGRH redevelopment will include:
■ Construction of a four-storey tower to house 118 medical, surgical and intensive-care beds;
■ The tower will also include a new Geriatric Assessment and Treatment Unit, a
new main entrance and new outpatient diagnostic services;
■ Redevelopment of parking;
■ Expansion and upgrading of the emergency department, ambulatory care area and cancer care unit;
■ Relocation of the hemodialysis and pediatric units into renovated space.
Completion is expected in May 2004.
Richardson invites those with questions to an open house July 31 at 7 p.m. in room 103 at the hospital. Those who can’t attend can call Michael McMillan at 565-2345.
An information package tells what is expected regarding impact on the neighbourhood, days and times of construction, noise, etc.
Watch lor our...
Recruitment office for docs step closer
The Northern Interior Regional Health Board (NIRHB) said Tliesday it has taken the first steps to establishing an office focused on co-ordinating and supporting the recruitment of retention of health-care professionals..
NIRHB chair Lorraine Grant said a regional recruitment and retention office will work directly with the Northern Medical Society (NMS), which last month spearheaded a walkout of specialists at Prince George Regional Hospital which led to an $ 10-million cash infusion from the B.C. government to recruit and retain doctors.
The board has hired Prince George-based human resources and management consultant David Yarmish, who will work with the NMS to help establish a process to co-ordinate recruitment and retention activities in the region, the NIRHB said in a press release.
Tent caterpillar numbers down
by BOB MILLER Citizen staff
A major infestation of the forest tent caterpillar failed to materialize this year within the city, but there were isolated pockets of the pests that brought numerous complaints, says Jennifer McGuire, a pest management officer with the Environment Ministry.
She said outbreaks were reported in Miworth, north of the city and in the Pineview area.
Within the boundaries of the city there was not nearly the number of caterpillars seen or reported this year as there were last year.
The caterpillars have emerged from their cocoons now and are showing up at night as brown moths fluttering around lights. They’ll mate and lay their eggs toward the tips of branches, where new growth occurs,
McGuire said.
Although the caterpillar stage feeds primarily on aspen trees, the moths will lay their egg clusters, which appear as bands of brownish foam, on ornamental trees as well.
Not much can be done to control them in the moth stage, McGuire said.
But people should examine their shrubs and trees for the egg clusters in the fall after the leaves have dropped or next spring before the trees bud. Any branches with egg clusters should be clipped off and burned or disposed of in soapy water.
When the caterpillars reach their peak, on five- to 10-year cycles, they usually wind up being controlled by predator insects and certain species of birds. When the caterpillars spin their cocoons, various bacteria, viruses and fungi attack and kill them before they emerge.
The only other natural control is a severe cold spell in
winter 30 to -35 for a prolonged period — which kills
the caterpillar eggs, McGuire said. Prince George has had a series of mild winters recently that has contributed to the caterpillar infestation, she added.
People can also use a dormant oil spray on their trees to attack egg clusters, McGuire said. Choose a dry day toward end of winter when the temperature is above freezing.
4 page flyer in tomorrow’s Citizen!
This file photo shows how bad the infestation was last year.
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