Medical Negligence Claims

Failure to diagnose cancer / misdiagnosis of cancer

If you have suffered as a result of misdiagnosis of cancer or failure to diagnose cancer, and someone has been negligent, you may be able to make a medical negligence compensation claim.

Cancer is one of the most common serious illnesses in the UK with statistics showing that one in three of us will develop some form of it during our lifetime.

It is widely recognised that early diagnosis of many types of cancer can lead to much more effective treatment and lower mortality rates. Doctors have to be aware of the possibility of cancer, taking into account your family history and environmental and lifestyle factors, when they examine you in relation to a wide variety of symptoms.

Medical negligence claims involving cancer often involve one of the following factors:

• Failure to diagnose – this can be due to your doctor either missing or misinterpreting your symptoms or misinterpreting test results
• Delay in diagnosis – this can be caused by delayed referrals to specialists, delays in carrying out a biopsy or failure to act quickly enough in reaction to test results, as well as many other factors
• Misdiagnosis – some patients are diagnosed as having cancer when they do not. This can lead to them having to endure difficult and painful treatments such as chemotherapy unnecessarily

Graysons deal with medical negligence compensation claims for any type of cancer where your health care provider has been negligent. Some of the more common types of cancer where claims arise are:

Breast cancer

Cancer of the breast is one type of cancer which responds well to early treatment. This is why early diagnosis is such an important factor in ensuring effective treatment.

Negligence claims often centre on delayed diagnosis as a result of failing to carry out examinations, failure in analysis of biopsy and test results, and lumps in the breast being misdiagnosed as being benign. This can lead to treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy being less effective or ineffective altogether and the patient having to undergo a mastectomy.

In other cases the opposite may be true and the patient could be diagnosed with breast cancer incorrectly. This can lead to them having to undergo unnecessary treatments or surgery.

Colon and bowel cancer

Claims usually arise as a result of a failure to diagnose. Various tests can be carried out which can help to identify bowel or colon cancer including: Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, barium enemas, biopsy and blood tests. Sometimes patients suffering from rectal bleeding are not given the correct examinations which could help with an early diagnosis of their condition and they go on to suffer further as a result.

Cervical cancer

This is one form of cancer which is now regarded by the medical profession as largely preventable through effective screening. Routine pelvic examinations and pap smears can help to identify pre-cancerous changes which if found should lead to early treatment.

Unfortunately some women receive inaccurate results from smear tests. This can be due to problems with specimen collection or by incorrect interpretation or reporting by the laboratories analysing the tests.

Delays in following up abnormal test results is also an area where patients can suffer as a result of negligence on the part of their health care provider.

Prostate cancer

Claims relating to prostate cancer often involve late diagnosis or failure to diagnose. It is now possible to identify patients with prostate cancer at a very early stage using new diagnostic techniques.

Prostate cancer shares many symptoms with other medical problems so it is essential that the correct tests are carried out early to identify the disease. Failure to diagnose the disease can lead to patients having a much lower chance of receiving effective treatment.

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most fatal types of cancer. It is commonly associated with smoking but can also be a result of inhaling other toxic substances such as asbestos.

Early diagnosis is vital to effective treatment. Lung cancer often goes undiagnosed as it shares similar symptoms to another disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder or smokers’ lung.

Tests such as biopsies and x-rays can be useful in diagnosing lung cancer, however these are often delayed or not carried out at all due to negligence on the part of the doctor. This can result in the patient not being given effective and timely treatment and suffering further or in some cases premature death is a result.

What can I claim?

The value of your claim will depend on a number of factors including:

• The nature of the illness
• Whether you recover fully from the illness or if it has a long term effect on your health and wellbeing
• The amount of any losses you incur as a result of the injury

You can claim compensation for the following things if they are a result of your injury:

• Pain, suffering and loss of amenity
• Loss of earnings
• Medical and nursing care costs
• Special equipment needed to carry out daily activities and any costs involved in adapting your home
• Other expenses incurred as a result of your injury, for example, travel expenses incurred whilst receiving medical treatment.

Contact us to speak to one of our specialist lawyers in total confidence and they will discuss the details of your claim.