Revealed: The Allegations That Have Hunter Cancer Experts Calling For ... Skin Clinic Rules

Newcastle Herald

Monday July 25, 2005

GREG RAY SPECIAL REPORT

CANCER specialists and lobby groups have called for urgent regulation of skin cancer clinics after allegations of over-servicing, faulty diagnosis and erratic quality control.

Skin cancer clinics have sprouted across Australia in the wake of increased awareness of skin cancer and melanoma, sparking concerns that some may be exploiting what has become a lucrative money-making medical niche.

Most are staffed by general practitioners whose level of expertise in skin cancer treatment varies enormously.

In the Hunter, where statistics show one person is diagnosed with melanoma almost every day and one person dies from the disease every week, the issue has come to a head

Continued Page 4

Hunter cancer experts demand tougher rules, quality control

From Page 1

after the case of Loreto Capone, of

Broadmeadow, who died last

month from melanoma at 70.

Mr Capone sued Dr Michael

Collis, of the Hunter Skin Cancer

Clinic, Broadmeadow, for failing

to diagnose his condition.

Prompted by friends to seek

advice in 2002 about a troublesome

spot on his back, Mr Capone

bypassed his family doctor?s referral

to a specialist and went to the

skin cancer clinic.

There he was told the spot was

harmless.

When the spot continued to

grow and began to bleed, Mr

Capone went back to Dr Collis.

A biopsy showed malignant

melanoma.

Mr Capone?s case against Dr

Collis was settled days before his

death and the terms of the settlement

have not been disclosed.

Emeritus professor of surgery at

Sydney Melanoma Unit Bill

McCarthy said he had major concerns

about the skin cancer clinic

phenomenon.

``I want to make it clear that I

believe some clinics are very

careful and do good work,?? Professor

McCarthy said.

However, quality across the

clinics was very patchy.

``Obviously some people have

seen an entrepreneurial opportunity,??

Professor McCarthy said.

``Some clinics have been put

together by non-medical people

who have simply advertised for

doctors to work for them.

``For some doctors it seems

these jobs are very attractive.

They might earn $200,000 a year

without having to work weekends

or holidays.??

Professor McCarthy said the

staff of some clinics did not have

any specialised training.

``They may have just qualified

or they may be overseas practitioners,??

he said.

``Some fancy themselves as surgeons

and maybe some were in

other countries but they may not

meet Australian standards.

``There is no quality control and

no accreditation scheme.

``There are some who have

come to me for advice. They might

tell me they are going to work in a

skin cancer clinic in a country

town, for example.

``They sit in on my clinics for a

day and while that isn?t training,

it?s better than nothing.??

Professor McCarthy said it had

been alleged widely that some

clinics over-serviced patients ?

unnecessarily treating or removing

relatively harmless skin spots

? in order to maximise Medicare

income.

There were allegations of ``soft

pathology?? where some clinics

were said to patronise particular

laboratories that seemed to

return unusually high proportions

of findings justifying profitable

surgical procedures.

``Personally, I always demand to

see the slides myself and I mistrust

terms like `pre-cancerous?,

which are often used to justify

wide incisions,?? Professor McCarthy

said.

``Frankly, I believe such terms

ought to be disallowed.??

Professor McCarthy said it was

common to find doctors at skin

cancer clinics had attempted relatively

advanced surgery and

ended up with poor results for

their patients.

``You can find that the work they

have done compromises later

repair efforts,?? he said.

``I believe that the community

has accepted these clinics and

that they are probably here to stay

but in these cases where people

are claiming to be pseudospecialists

or sub-specialists they

should have to prove themselves.??

NSW Cancer Council Hunter

Region manager Christine Page

backed Professor McCarthy?s call

for accreditation for skin cancer

clinics.

``When lots of skin cancer

clinics began popping up, the

Cancer Council started getting

questions about them from the

public,?? Ms Page said.

``Many people have a perception

that these clinics are staffed

by specialists and we are trying to

educate them that this is not the

case.

``We are not telling people not to

go to the clinics. That is their

choice. But we want their choice

to be an informed one.??

The council had produced a

guide to skin cancer clinics.

© 2005 Newcastle Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home