Cancer Cases

Withy King's team regularly deal with cases involving the misdiagnosis of cancer, or delayed or missed diagnosis, leading to a worse medical result for the patient. These cases can range from the situation where a patient suffers a longer period of unpleasant symptoms unnecessarily (because the fact that the patient is suffering from a developing cancer is missed) to the situation where a cancer with a good chance of cure, if detected early, progresses to a disabling or even fatal outcome due to a failure to recognise the significance of the patient's symptoms or a failure to make an appropriate early referral to hospital.

Occasionally the problem may be 'overdiagnosis', where a patient is diagnosed as suffering from an advanced cancer and undergoes debilitating treatment only to then be told that the disease was non-malignant.

We aim to provide a sympathetic and effective support to our clients during a very difficult time, while at the same time pursuing investigations and resulting claims for damages. 

 Please click on the titles to read the following case reports:  

Case report: C – v- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Case Report: OMG (by his mother and litigation friend SG) – v – University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
Case Report: R (on her own behalf and as executrix of the estate of ER deceased) – v- University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
Case Report:  C v ROYAL UNITED HOSPITAL BATH  NHS TRUST
Case Report:  H v- EAST SOMERSET NHS TRUST
Case Report: K v GP

C – v- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

The Claimant lost his wife, aged 33 years, as a result of an admitted negligent failure to treat her skin cancer. The Claimant was left bringing up 3 very young children on his own.

The case was settled on the basis that but for the admitted negligence the Claimant’s wife would have been cured of her cancer, and have had a near normal life expectancy. The settlement included sums to compensate for the reduction in income the Claimant’s late wife would have brought into the family, and also the extra costs of employing childcare for the children, plus £70,000 for the Claimant’s late wife’s pain and suffering prior to her death as a result of the admitted negligence.

The Claim was settled in the sum of £450,000.

This case was settled by Paul Rumley, Partner and Head of the Swindon and Marlborough Clinical Negligence Team.

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Case Report: K v GP

The plaintiff, a mother of three, born in 1962, first consulted the defendant GP in 1988, suffering from boils, weakness and lethargy. In 1989 she consulted him again with severe pre-menstrual pain, night sweats and wakefulness, and anxiety. In January 1990 she attended once more, complaining of a left-sided pain radiating across her stomach. No physical examination was carried our: the defendant simply administered a repeat prescription for painkillers.

The plaintiff's pain persisted throughout the next three years. During 1991 she lost weight and suffered from unusual fatigue. In 1993 she began to experience hot flushes and unexplained sweating. In early 1994 the pain in the plaintiff's side became more intrusive and she attended her GP again. Still no physical examination was carried out and the defendant prescribed medication on the basis of a diagnosis of sciatica.

Over the ensuing months the plaintiff consulted the defendant again on several occasions, continuing to complain of pain in her left side, but no further treatment was offered. By mid-1994 she had suffered further weight loss and fatigue, and in August 1994 attended a Well Woman clinic. This resulted in a letter to the defendant, advising him that a "very hard mass" had been felt on the left side of the abdomen and that a scan was thought to be necessary. 

Please click here to read the full case report

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Case Report: OMG (by his mother and litigation friend SG) – v – University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

The Claimant was 7 years of age as at the date of the alleged negligence, and 14 years of age as at the date of settlement.

O developed increasing pain in his left leg in early 2002, as a result of which he was eventually referred to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, and then referred onto Bristol Children’s Hospital with a diagnosis of a possible cancer known as Ewing’s Sarcoma.
 
Unfortunately, Bristol Children’s Hospital misdiagnosed O as having an infection, and therefore his cancer was not diagnosed and treated until July 2002.
 
O alleged that as a result of the negligent delay in diagnosis and treatment of the cancer, which was eventually admitted to by the Defendant, he had unnecessary pain and suffering and also that his cancer spread from his left to his right leg which meant that he then required high dose chemotherapy which in turn made it almost certain that he would be infertile. The Defendant never admitted the latter part of the claim, and indeed the expert evidence for both sides was very balanced upon whether or not high dose chemotherapy would have been required in any event.
 
Initially, the value of the claim in respect of infertility, was not to be settled until O reached 16-17 years of age and therefore his position in terms of fertility became clearer. However, in light of the lack of clarity in the expert evidence, a full and final settlement of the claim was reached when O was 14 years of age in the sum of £80,000, representing £50,000 for pain, suffering and affects upon everyday life and £30,000 for financial losses including the costs of future psychiatric and fertility treatment.

This case was handled by Paul Rumley, Partner and Head of the Swindon/Marlborough Clinical Negligence Team.

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Case Report: R (on her own behalf and as executrix of the estate of ER deceased) – v- University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

The deceased, ER, was 71 years of age as at the date of the alleged negligence and died in March 2006. 

ER attended the Bristol Royal Infirmary with symptoms of a heart attack in February 2002, as a result of which he underwent a triple heart bypass operation. Following that operation, an x-ray of the chest showed a possible tumour in the lung but unfortunately this was not followed up. The tumour was again identified on a scan of the chest carried out in November 2002, but again was not followed up. It was not until October 2005, namely over 3 ½ years later, that the deceased’s lung cancer was diagnosed by which time he could not receive any active treatment for it and he subsequently died.
 
In the subsequent complaint made by the Claimant, R, it was admitted that there was a delay in diagnosing the lung cancer from November 2002 but not as from March 2002 even though this was conceded within the Defendant’s own internal complaints correspondence.
 
Despite the contents of the complaint documentation, the Defendant steadfastly refused to admit liability and settle the claim early despite an offer of settlement to do so. A press release highlighting the circumstances of this claim was then published in the local and national media, following which the Defendant conceded the claim and settled it at the offer of settlement previously made on behalf of the Claimant, namely £11,500.Bac 

This case was handled by Paul Rumley, Partner and Head of the Swindon/Marlborough Clinical Negligence Team.

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Case Report:  C v ROYAL UNITED HOSPITAL BATH  NHS TRUST

On 27 August 2002 C attended her GP suffering from unilateral mastalgia, tethering in the left breast skin and a blood picture consistent with iron deficiency. A referral was sent to the Bath Breast Clinic at the Royal United Hospital.
 
On 6 September an iron deficiency anaemia was recorded and C was urgently referred for investigation of the gastro-intestinal tract. An appointment was fixed for 24 September 2002. A mammography and ultrasound were then performed on the 17 September and a malignant mass was identified. Ultrasound guided biopsies were taken on the 18 September and a ductal carcinoma was identified.
 
On the 24 September 2002 C attended both the Breast Clinic and gastroenterology outpatient clinic and a mastectomy was planned for 25 October 2002. It was agreed that C required upper and lower endoscopy to exclude a significant cause for the anaemia.
 
On 25 October a left mastectomy was carried out and on 31 October C was discharged with a follow up appointment. On 5 November C was referred for chemotherapy and possible radiotherapy. On 26 November 2002 C was assessed by an associate specialist in oncology and it was recommended that she take Tamoxifen for 5 years with radiotherapy to the chest wall. Radiotherapy was commenced on 14 January 2003 and continued until 10 February 2003.
 
On 28 March C was seen by her GP who noted an increasing loss of energy and shortness of breath. Blood tests confirmed an iron deficiency anaemia. On 28 April a colonoscopy was carried out which showed a polypoid lesion in the caecum. A CT of the abdomen was booked. Biopsies were reported and these demonstrated no evidence of neoplasia.
 
On 15 May C was referred to Hospital with a suspected sub-acute obstruction. A flexible sigmoidoscopy was carried out on 16 May and a laparatomy was performed together with an extended right hemicolectomy for obstructed mid transverse colon carcinoma. C was discharged on 23 May and referred for chemotherapy.
 
By July 2003 an ultrasound had demonstrated two lesions within the liver consistent with metastases. Chemotherapy was administered but with limited success and C sadly died on 23 February 2004. The cause of death was carcinomatosis from carcinoma of the colon.
 
The Claimant alleged that the Defendant had failed to arrange for an urgent endoscopy and/or barium enema and misinterpreted the clinical findings as being due to sigmoid volvulus. This resulted in a far more invasive treatment including a mastectomy which could otherwise have been avoided.
 
It was the opinion of the expert that the Defendant’s care was substandard and that an urgent request for a colonoscopy would have prevented C developing intestinal obstruction and prevented the mastectomy. The Defendant denied liability and breach of duty.  

The Claimant was awarded total damages of £16,000.00 in full and final settlement of her claim. 

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Case Report:  H - v- EAST SOMERSET NHS TRUST

H began to suffer pain in his right thigh in February 1998, as a result of which he attended his GP, x-rays were undertaken and he was then sent to an orthopaedic surgeon at Yeovil District Hospital in or around May 1998. A bone scan was carried out showing an abnormality in the right thigh, but H was diagnosed as suffering from a non-malignant condition.

H returned to his doctor for review in early 1999, when further x-rays were taken and H was again reassured that he had a non-malignant condition despite increasing pain in his right thigh. H returned to his doctor earlier than planned in July 1999 as a result of ongoing pain, at which time yet more x-rays were taken, and he was again reassured that he was suffering from a non-malignant condition.

Unfortunately, in August 1999 H suffered a fracture to his right thigh at which time it was diagnosed that this was caused by an aggressive bone tumour in his right thigh. Despite prompt surgery, the delay in diagnosis and treatment of the cancer with the subsequent fracture, had allowed the cancer cells to escape into the surrounding tissue and the cancer returned and then spread to H’s lungs and brain, causing significant ongoing disabilities, and his eventual death in May 2005.

Unfortunately, despite the best endeavours of the firm, it was not possible to settle the case prior to H’s death as a result of the complexities of the case. The case continued on behalf of H’s estate, and was eventually settled for the sum of £127,500.

This case was dealt with by Paul Rumley, a Parther in Withy King's Swindon/Marlborough offices and a member of the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Panel

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