Cancer patients given wrong chemo doses in Sydney

(File)
(File)

There are calls for an independent commission of inquiry after cancer patients were given the wrong chemotherapy doses at a Sydney hospital.

It's been revealed dozens of affected patients at Saint Vincent's hospital have died.

Jasmine Boyce's mother Jocelyn lost her fight with bowel cancer in January.

She was treated for 14 months by the doctor at the centre of a chemotherapy treatment scandal.

"It makes you think, did he do wrong by her, or by anyone else. What else goes on that you just don't know about," Ms Boyce says.

A new report has found there was cause for concern.

Seventy-eight patients at Saint Vincent Hospital were given half to one-third less the normal amount of a chemotherapy drug.

"I think this is every patient's worst nightmare," Ms Boyce says.

"You go to hospital, don't get treated properly, and when you ask questions you don't get straight answers."

Of the 78 under-dosed cancer patients, 30 have died -- 23 from cancer and four from unspecified causes.

The report found the hospital misled the public.

"We have already seen a cover up by Saint Vincent's," says Greens MP health spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham.

"The interim report revealed they started off with lies."

The practice was widely known; senior pharmacy and nursing staff either knew, or should have known, it was happening.

Saint Vincent's said the oncologist involved, Dr John Grygiel, was immediately counselled and placed under supervision. The report reveals that didn't happen.

What's worse -- the hospital waited six months to tell affected patients.

Newshub.