Woman awarded £180,000 after missed cancer diagnosis

Radical treatment as a result of negligence

As the months went by, Mrs P noticed other changes in her breast so decided to revisit her GP again in December 2011. She was immediately referred to hospital and a biopsy confirmed that she was suffering with breast cancer.

Before surgery could be performed, Mrs P would require chemotherapy, which she undertook. Following a mastectomy, she then required radiotherapy.

As a result of the treatments, Mrs P lost her hair and suffered continuing pains and restrictions in her right arm and shoulder. These afflictions will continue for the rest of her life.

Tragically, analysis from our instructed experts found that her life expectancy had significantly reduced and she had suffered from a severe psychological reaction as a result in the delay to her treatment.

Fighting for a woman’s future

What happened to Mrs P was a tragic situation caused by a mistake that she would end up paying for for the rest of her life. We believed it only right and proper that she be financially compensated for her misdiagnosis but also her pain and also make sure she is secure in her life moving forward.

Our investigations found that if the cancer had been appropriately diagnosed at the original consultation, Mrs P would have avoided the need for axillary node clearance, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Taking into account the reduced life expectancy, physical and psychological traumas involved, we fought to ensure that Mrs P could live for the rest of her life as comfortably as possible.

The defendant initially admitted breach of duty of care (that they did something wrong) and following negotiations, accepted our causation case about the difference the delay in diagnosis had made to our client.