Left in the Dark

A state investigation found that a large number of breast-cancer screening films of women at the now-defunct Central Imaging on Central Boulevard were sold to a silver refinery business.

Furthermore, some women, who had mammograms taken at Central Imaging from 2004 to 2008, have not had access to their cancer screening exams since the facility shut down in February of last year, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The women's physicians also have not had access to the films, the AG claims.

Abbott has stepped in to assist the women.

In a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday, the AG charged Newco Imaging L.L.C., which did business as Central Imaging, and its owner Harold F. Taylor with violating state medical records laws.

The lawsuit claims the company and its owner failed to ensure that the records would be made available to former patients and physicians.

Taylor could not be reached for comment.

Abbott's office said it filed the lawsuit in state district court in Brownsville, seeking an injunction and court order requiring that they return and properly store their former patients' records.

Abbott also is asking the court to order Newco and Taylor to provide notice to each patient whose mammogram was performed at Central Imaging within the last 10 years. Abbott wants the notice to state where the patients can access their mammograms and medical reports.

The AG said that under the Texas Radiation Control Act and state rules medical facilities are required to retain mammogram results and copies of patient records for a minimum of five years or 10 years if no additional mammograms are performed at the facility.

The state also seeks civil penalties against Newco and Taylor of up to $25,000 for each violation of the TRCA and for each day of continuing violations.

Abbott became involved when inspectors with the Texas Department of State Health Services found that patients' requests for their mammograms and other records were ignored.

A state inspector also found that Newco sold and transferred a large volume of films and reports to San Antonio Silver Recovery in June and July last year.

"In November 2008, a TDSHS inspector reviewed a sample of such records purchased and held by San Antonio Silver Recovery and found numerous mammograms taken at defendant Newco's facility within the last five years," states the lawsuit that Abbott filed.

"Doctors and other health care professionals need access to a patient's medical history when they make diagnoses and strive to cure illnesses," Abbott said in a statement released Tuesday.

A patient's medical history is very important, said Dr. Jose Raul Nieves-Sosa with Brownsville OB/GYN Associates, although he was unable to comment on the specific case.

"When you have doctors asking for mammograms and you can't get them, it could cost precious time," Nieves-Sosa said. He noted that it is critical to be able to compare past mammograms with present ones, not only to diagnose, but also to avoid unnecessary suffering. "You can tell the difference between something that is stable from something that might not be," he said.

Letty Martinez-Roerig, administrator of Texas Oncology, has annual mammogram exams.

She also is adamant about keeping track of all her medical records.

"I want to be an informed patient," Martinez-Roerig said. "Knowledge is power," she added.