The consultant radiologist at the centre of a breast cancer misdiagnosis scare said last night she was distressed by allegations she had failed to identify the disease in seven patients.
Dr Visa Moodley of the Midlands Hospital, Portlaoise, claimed she was placed on administrative leave over complaints from nurses that she had requested further examination of too many patients who had undergone mammography at the hospital.
"In other words, because I was regarded as being over-cautious," Dr Moodley said.
"I am greatly distressed by newspaper reports and media comments that have claimed that I am responsible for failing to identify seven cases of cancer following mammography examination at Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise," she said in a statement to RTÉ.
She requested copies of the mammograms but this was refused by the HSE, she said.
"The reason I have requested these is because I am confident that a review of my reports on the mammograms and images of these patients will show that I did not fail in my duty of care to these patients," she said.
"I am also anxious in making this statement not to add any further to the distress of these patients at this very difficult time. I wish to assure them that I have always acted in their best interests."
Her statement comes after Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm and his executives faced three hours of questions from politicians at Leinster House yesterday over the crisis.
Thousands of scans were reviewed and the consultant sent on leave after concerns were raised at the end of August about the reading of mammograms at the hospital.
A total of 3,026 carried out at the Midlands Regional were reviewed, and seven of those patients were subsequently diagnosed with cancer. Tests on six women are being completed this week.
Prof Drumm described the meeting as constructive and positive and said errors were inevitable in any health service. "What we've got to do is ensure that errors are minimised by the structures that we put in place," he said.