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economist suntribune thursday october 2 1997 p5 markham stouffville hll hospital bile duct injury report inaccurate and misleading markham stouffville hospital will be retaining legal counsel to determine the appropriate action to be taken in response to the articles published by the toronto star about the number of bile duct injuries reportedly to have occurred at markham stouffville hospital the hospitals analysis of health records shows that there were 0 laparoscopic cholecystecomy keyhole gall bladder surgery bile duct injuries between 1990 and 1995 and not 24 as reported by lisa priest on september 22 1997 markham stouffville hospitals statistics are based on a coding system which is a thorough analysis and interpretation of a patients clinical case coding captures both eventful and uneventful intraoperative occurrences such as injury to the gall bladder during its removal it appears that lisa priest has reported data without a thorough understanding of the coding method used this inaccurate and misleading reporting has lead to undue concern from our patients staff and community members we are working with legal counsel in looking to the toronto star to clarify the interpretation of the data since 1991 our surgeons have conducted over 1000 laparoscopic cholecystectomies they are highly trained and skilled in this procedure which is reflected in the high quality medical care they provide to their patients markham stouffville hospital has been acknowledged for quality patient care by receiving a 4 year accreditation award accreditation with distinction from the canadian council on health services accreditation and the national quality institutes 1995 canada award for excellence in quality health care category r please contact your surgeons office directly or our public relations office at 905 4727095 should you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter damian l bassett chair board of directors n