Surgeon's status remains uncertain
WASHINGTON, Pa. - Arizona resident Linda Six waited patiently outside of a Washington County courtroom Wednesday to hear if a Mid-Mon Valley surgeon would be granted court approval to continue performing non-conventional cancer surgeries that could save her daughter's life.
"She's getting to the point that, if she doesn't get it done soon, she's going to go home and die," Six said. "She's worn out."
Six's daughter, Diana Mason, 46, of Iowa, was diagnosed in June with liver cancer.
Six found out about Mon Valley Hospital Dr. Jerome Canady through news reports about the surgeon, who has been successful in using a tool he developed to eliminate liver cancer in its late stages.
The procedure typically involves more than one surgery.
Affected parts of the liver are removed during each procedure, with recovery periods from four to five weeks in between.
Canady invented a tool that eliminates cancer by using plasma energy. He holds nine patents for the device or the technology he devised to operate it.
Mason was set to have her first surgery last Friday, but hospital officials suspended Canady from performing the surgeries.
Hospital officials have not disclosed a reason for the suspension.
Mason's surgery was pushed back to today, but whether or not it would be performed remained unclear before yesterday's hearing.
Her mother, a retired nurse of 38 years, questioned why Canady would be suspended during a period surgeries were to take place.
"It's unfathomable to me that with patients there that are dying that a hospital would do this," Six said. "I just can't believe that they're playing with lives of people that don't have very long.
"If for some reason, they cannot do Diana's surgery, they will have a lawsuit."
According to court records, Canady received a letter Nov. 8 from Dr. Ronald A. Lutes, president of the hospital's medical staff, stating that a peer review committee decided to suspend him immediately from performing oncologic surgery.
The letter stated that Canady should be prepared to discuss 14 cases at a peer review committee meeting Nov. 21.
The hospital also required that Canady have mandatory second opinions from other general surgeons for all non-oncologic surgical cases.
Canady temporarily regained the right to continue performing the surgeries Nov. 8, however, after he successfully filed for an emergency court order.
He was unable to make yesterday's hearing because he was performing surgery on a man from Spain.
After more than an hour past the 3 p.m. hearing time, Canady's attorney, Kevin C. Harkins, of Pittsburgh, and the hospital's attorney, Douglas R. Nolin, of Washington, Pa., met privately with Judge Katherine B. Emery.
About another hour later, Harkins told the patients and their families that both sides had agreed to allow Canady to perform the two surgeries he had scheduled today and Saturday, one of which is for Mason.
Canady's office manager, Linda Dettore, said Canady does not have any surgeries scheduled next week and that he has four remaining this month.
"He intentionally took Thanksgiving week (off) as a little breather," Dettore said.
Dettore said Canady is committed to his patients and is handling the situation "admirably."
"That's the way he is, very strong willed," she said. "It's unfair because they're not taking the patient into consideration."
Nolin said the hospital could not reveal the reason behind Canady's suspension.
"We're bound by law not to comment on the peer review process and the details of that," he said. "State law prohibits us. That process is very, very tightly controlled."
A number of Canady's patients and their families - about 35 people - came to the courtroom Wednesday to support him.
Some said they had been called to testify. Others said they would take the stand, if needed.
Six and her husband, Tom, came to court with their daughter, who planned to testify but had to leave because of her weakened condition.
The family learned about Canady from family friend Sarah Pauwels, of Charleroi.
Pauwels read about Canady in July in The Valley Independent.
Mason must have more than one surgery, however, so learning that she will be able to at least have the first procedure was a small victory, Linda Six said.
"We have so many emotions," she said. "We see her losing ground. I feel irate, disappointed and let down by the medical establishment. This is possible. It's being done. It works. It's been proven. It's being denied to our family."
Other patients, like Tim Musial, remain in limbo.
The Gulfport, Miss., resident had his first of three surgeries performed by Canady five weeks ago.
He was diagnosed in June with cancer that has affected his small intestines and 75 percent of his liver.
Musial had his second surgery Monday.
His final procedure will be in four to five weeks, if Canady is permitted to operate.
Musial's wife, Michelle, said Canady is her husband's last hope.
"He's a miracle," she said. "We all feel blessed that we learned about him."
Tim Musial's father, Ted, is a Donora native.
He and Tim Musial's sister, Terry, said they could not believe Canady had been suspended.
"They're trying to take away this doctor's choice to save lives and these people to take the risk," Terry Musial said. "Dr. Canady doesn't walk around professing to everybody, 'I can save all your lives.' He says, 'I have the ability to try. I have the technology to try and I am blessed with a gift that I think I can help you prolong your life.'
"These courts don't have the right to take that away from him."
Cancer patients have come to the Mon Valley from around the nation after hearing local news reports about Canady.
Charleroi native Cindy Russell, now of Maryland, came to court Wednesday prepared to testify that she is living proof of how effective Canady's techniques can be.
In June, Canady performed two surgeries on Russell that she said enabled her to fully recover from a tumor that had affected 80 percent of her liver.
Russell said she was told by a number of local doctors that she had less than six months to live.
News reports and a Web site Cindy Russell's husband, Neill, created were the reasons why those at court had found Canady.
Leaving the courtroom yesterday, Cindy Russell encouraged Canady's patients waiting for surgery to keep faith.
"Never give up. With Dr. Canady, there is always hope," Russell said.
Russell said it was impressive to see so many people in court supporting Canady.
"That tells you how much these people love him," she said.
A Philadelphia native, Canady received an undergraduate degree from Villanova University and a medical degree from Temple University. After completing his general surgery residency at UPMC McKeesport, he studied organ transplant at Yale.
Canady worked under famed transplant surgeon Dr. Thomas Starzl between stints in pancreatic and liver surgery and transplantation in Berlin, Germany.
Canady's firm, Canady Technology, produces his surgical tool.
It opened its headquarters in the Industrial Center of McKeesport in 2005.
