MONCTON, N.B. — The New Brunswick pathologist under scrutiny for errors and omissions in his work says many of his troubles stem from hospital administrators who were out to get him.

Dr. Rajgopal Menon, former chief pathologist at the hospital in Miramichi, N.B., said Thursday he's the victim of hospital officials who deliberately targeted him for dismissal, although he has not said why he believes that was the case.

Menon told the public inquiry examining concerns over pathology tests in Miramichi he was an innocent, hard-working specialist trying to cope with too much work, doctors who can't write clearly, complicated computer systems and administrators who were willing to plant evidence to tarnish his reputation.

"Anybody can put a signature," Menon said about a signed document relating to a meeting he claims never happened.

"I think you should check that signature."

Justice Paul Creaghan, head of the commission of inquiry, expressed surprise at Menon's statement since former hospital CEO John Tucker testified earlier in the inquiry that it was his signature.

The document recounted a 1998 meeting at which Menon was told to clean up his act or face dismissal.

"The meeting never happened," Menon insisted. "I think the notes were planted."

Menon also took a swipe at the New Brunswick College of Physicians and Surgeons, which urged the elderly pathologist to retire as it investigated complaints relating to the accuracy of his laboratory work.

"Maybe, in hindsight, it would have been better," Menon said when asked by inquiry counsel Marc-Antoine Chiasson what he thought of the offer.

"But that is like blackmail for me. . . . That is not professional medicine."

Thursday was the second day of Menon's testimony at the inquiry looking into pathology services in the Miramichi Regional Health Authority in eastern New Brunswick.

He is expected to wrap up his evidence on Friday.

Nearly 24,000 of Menon's patient cases from 1995 to 2007 are being reviewed by a lab in Ottawa after an audit found serious errors and omissions in a sample of his work.

The errors included several "false negatives" on cancer tests, meaning patients were told they did not have cancer when in fact they did.

Chiasson said that in all of the evidence about miscommunication between Menon and his bosses, there was just one common denominator - Menon himself.

"Why so many miscommunications when you are involved?" Chiasson asked.

Menon said the problem was not with him.

"As far as I was concerned, it was the administration," he said.

Menon also shrugged off concerns expressed in an angry letter from a colleague in Miramichi in which he was accused of mishandling several cases.

Menon told the inquiry the doctor who sent the letter, Larry Lacey, was after his job as chief of pathology at the Miramichi laboratory.

"He wanted my job and I didn't want to give it," Menon said. "That was the only problem."

The letter, dated February 1997, bluntly accused Menon of causing an excessive delay in one cancer biopsy and complained about other mistakes and poor response times.

Lacey, who quit shortly after sending the letter, complained that the Miramichi lab had a reputation in the province for a "significant number of disturbing errors" and slow turnaround times.

The letter to Menon, copied to the vice-president of medical affairs at the Miramichi Hospital, recounts a discussion with Menon that Lacey described as "another difficult conversation."

"You (Menon) have mishandled several cases," Lacey stated in his letter.

But Menon didn't know what cases Lacey was referring to when asked about the letter by Chiasson.

"Several cases? I don't remember," Menon said.

Menon's licence was suspended, then reinstated last year on the condition that he not practise medicine unless he completes remedial training in surgical pathology and convinces the college that he has the competence to return to practice.

He is no longer on staff at the Miramichi facility.

Menon said his workload was too heavy and he wasn't helped by other pathologists who, he said, took a lot of vacation time.

Menon also blamed the terrible handwriting of doctors for blanks in his reports. He said he often couldn't understand details of medical histories scrawled by doctors.

"The pathologist is at a disadvantage when the physician does not write clearly," Menon told the inquiry.