30 Apr 2021

'Unethical' bowel screening decision caused deaths - surgeon

From Morning Report, 7:37 am on 30 April 2021

A top surgeon and a cancer researcher have accused the Ministry of Health of letting the Southern District Health Board join the National Bowel Screening Programme too early saying the decision has cut lives short.

Dr Philip Bagshaw and Professor Brian Cox have reviewed more three and a half thousand pages of documents from the Ministry and the DHB they got under the Official Information Act.

The findings are published in the Medical Journal today.

Timothy Brown has this report.