Last updated on April 6th, 2017 at 01:55 pm

Mr A enjoyed holidaying with his wife in warm places such as Barbados, the Bahamas, Spain and South Africa and had visited his daughter in Australia several times.  He always wears factor 50 sun cream on his face and factor 30 on his body.

Doctor misdiagnoses skin cancer as a wart – twice

In around 2006 Mr A noticed a freckle on his nose, but wasn’t concerned because he had a similar one on his chin that wasn’t as noticeable because of his stubble.   However, over the next couple of years the freckle on his nose grew and changed colour to a slightly darker brown, whereas the one on his chin didn’t.    It also bled if he scratched it.  His doctor looked at it and told him it was a wart that needed freezing off – which he did.

Unfortunately the wart started to come back at the beginning of 2009.  It was itchy and again would bleed if Mr A scratched it. The GP froze the wart off again and Mr A was left with a noticeable mark, of which he was very conscious and which he had to conceal.

Hospital diagnoses skin cancer

The wart returned in 2013 and Mr A visited a different GP, as he had moved home.  He was referred to the dermatology department of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, where he was informed that he had skin cancer.   A plastic surgeon carried out a skin graft on Mr A’s nose, taking skin from his neck to close the hole where the cancer – which was growing inwards – had been removed.

In 2014 Mr A was told that the surgery had not removed all of the cancer and he had to undergo radiotherapy, during which time he felt very tired and put on weight.

Graysons pursues medical negligence claim for misdiagnosis of skin cancer

Mr A has been left with a dark red area on the side of his nose above his lip to just below his eye and the side of his nose keeps bleeding, for which he has an antibiotic spray.  He is extremely conscious of the marks and has to cover them up.  Mr A contacted Graysons to see if he was able to make a claim against the doctor who had not recognised his skin cancer.  Graysons contacted the doctor with a letter of claim and used her skill and expertise to negotiate a settlement of £10,000, without the need to go to court.

If you feel that you have received treatment from any medical practitioner that is not of the standard you should expect, contact our specialists now to see if you can purse a medical negligence claim.  We have all the expertise necessary to help you get the justice you deserve.   You can find out more about making a medical negligence claim on our web pages.

Read what Cancer Research has to say about recognising skin cancer.