By MARTIN JOHNSTON
A group of women alleging mistreatment by Northland specialist Dr Graham Parry have met to consider suing him for gross negligence.
Auckland lawyer Antonia Fisher said she met in Whangarei yesterday 21 women and the husbands of two others too ill to attend.
"These women are demanding that there be some accountability."
One option they were considering was taking a class action against Dr Parry alleging gross negligence.
"It's got all the elements to justify a class action," said Antonia Fisher.
"I'm reluctant to ask the minister [of Health, Annette King] to look at another inquiry but it seems that, given the serious nature of the complaints, there may be little option."
Annette King's office and the Health Funding Authority said they were leaving the matter in the hands of the medical registration and disciplinary bodies and Northland Health, Dr Parry's employer.
Antonia Fisher said the women's complaints included perforated bowels, punctured bladders, post-birth complications, problems with a hysterectomy and prolapsed bladders.
Dr Parry, who has practised obstetrics and gynaecology in Northland for 20 years, has been suspended by the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal before a hearing next month.
He is accused of disgraceful conduct in his assessment and treatment of Colleen Poutsma, a 47-year-old Bay of Islands woman dying of cervical cancer.
Accident compensation officials say Dr Parry has been involved in 12 cases of medical misadventure dating to 1992. Six involved medical error (negligence) and six were medical mishaps.
ACC has not looked back further because of difficulties in retrieving such old files.
The Health and Disability Commissioner's office, whose findings led to the tribunal hearing, is looking into nine other complaints about Dr Parry.
Dr Parry was not speaking publicly yesterday, said a spokesman, public relations consultant Roger Mackey.
Northland Health yesterday made its strongest public defence yet of Dr Parry.
Communications manager Luke Worth said Dr Parry was a dedicated health professional.
But he again refused to answer questions about Dr Parry because it was "quite wrong to discuss an individual employee's situation in the national media," and since he was to appear before the tribunal.
Yet earlier in his statement, Mr Worth said people had to understand that no medical procedure was free of risks.
Women discuss class action against Parry
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