THE NATIONAL breast cancer screening service, BreastCheck, has apologised for the distress caused to a Cork man for sending an invitation to attend for a breast X-ray to his wife 20 years after she had died from the disease.
Mother-of-four Mary Mulvihill died at the age of 42 after fighting breast cancer for three years.
Her immediate family - husband, Cork county councillor John Mulvihill, and their four children - were angry and upset when they received a letter from BreastCheck addressed to Mrs Mulvihill on Thursday.
"If it was four or five years after her death, I would say fair enough, it was a mistake, but 20 years down the road is a little bit much. I'm a politician who can take the rough with the smooth but getting this letter in the post really knocked me and my sons and daughters are very upset about it."
Sheila Caulfield, head of communications with BreastCheck, apologised to Mr Mulvihill and explained this was not a common occurrence.
"Unfortunately Ireland, unlike other countries where screening is offered, does not have a national population register and therefore we have assembled our own register from a number of sources," she said.
She explained the register currently in use by BreastCheck was made possible by a change in legislation which allowed certain authorities to supply names, addresses and dates of birth of women eligible for screening. These included the health insurance companies (VHI, Quinn, Hibernian Health), the General Medical Services Payments Board and the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
"We make every effort to ensure that the BreastCheck population register is accurate. Unfortunately, if a death has not been registered or there are inaccuracies in one of these databases that supply BreastCheck with details of women eligible for screening, we cannot avoid inheriting the incorrect detail and such an uncommon and regrettable incident may occur."
Ms Caulfield said BreastCheck said it had reassured Mr Mulvihill that it was never their intention to be insensitive.