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The Auckland District Health Board has apologised to a woman who had an abortion after a lab-test blunder wrongly diagnosed her as having drug-resistant tuberculosis.
The mistake meant the woman, a recent immigrant to New Zealand, had to undergo "very toxic" treatment requiring her to have a medically-induced abortion after the error was made by LabPlus, part of the Auckland DHB.
The termination of her pregnancy was later found to have been unnecessary.
Human rights lawyer Evgeny Orlov said if gross negligence by medical misadventure was proven, the DHB could be liable for exemplary damages of more than $250,000.
A confidential report into the incident by the Office of the Ombudsman, obtained by the Dominion Post under the Official Information Act, found the woman suffered "psychological stress".
Immigrant rights groups and legal experts have condemned her treatment.
LabPlus was criticised in the independent review, which found that staff were at risk from infection and that lab-test samples were in danger of cross-contamination because of unsafe work practices.
The health board has apologised to the woman and said it fully accepted that failings resulted in "serious consequences" for her and her family - though no financial compensation has been paid.
Although the health board initially indicated the woman had been denied residency and deported, it is now understood she is living in New Zealand and has residency.
Labour Department documents show she arrived in New Zealand in February 2006 from Hong Kong and was granted a work permit.
Immigration officials were notified of her supposed condition on May 3 last year by the health board after tests required by an Immigration Service medical assessor.
The woman was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis by staff at LabPlus' microbiology department.
The apparent condition needed "very toxic treatment", requiring termination of her pregnancy.
She was then discharged and returned to her home country.
The diagnosis was later found to have arisen from a lab blunder resulting from cross-contamination of test samples - sparking a critical external review and several procedural changes.
LabPlus is the health board's accredited medical laboratory and main pathology service pro-vider for Auckland City and its hospitals.
It also provides national lab-testing services for other health boards, processing about three million specimens a year.
"Bewildered" reviewers found the lab's mycobacteria section - which processes 5000 TB-related specimens a year - had numerous deficiencies which needed dealing with "as a matter of urgency".
DHB chief medical officer David Sage told the Dominion Post: "This is a very distressing case and the Auckland District Health Board has offered our deepest apologies to the family concerned.
"We now have a responsibility to implement the appropriate systems and process changes to ensure we are doing everything we can to stop an incident like this happening in the future."
The Federation of Ethnic Councils said her case highlighted failings in New Zealand's "cultural infrastructure" for migrants.
- NZPA
