Cancer misdiagnosis is a serious form of medical negligence. It may be that a doctor misses symptoms which should trigger an immediate two-week wait for cancer referral. Alternatively, a hospital may miss signs that you have cancer, misinterpret results, fail to act on results or not follow you up when they should.
A cancer misdiagnosis claim can happen when you receive a delayed cancer diagnosis. In some cases the cancer prognosis will be much worse than it would have been, but for the negligence. A delayed cancer diagnosis is part of many successful cancer misdiagnosis compensation claims.
When a doctor fails to refer you or a hospital consultant misses your signs of cancer on a scan or blood test, you could be ill for years, require additional treatment and may even die.
Premature death, prolonged treatment, unnecessary treatments and lasting ill health are all the consequences of a wrongly diagnosed cancer. If you have been the victim of cancer negligence, you are entitled to make a cancer misdiagnosis compensation claim.
Medical negligence is when a healthcare professional does not do their job properly. Cancer misdiagnosis compensation claims get you the compensation you deserve for the suffering you have endured which would not have occurred had you been referred or diagnosed when you should have been.
Table of content
What is cancer misdiagnosis?
Cancer misdiagnosis is when signs of cancer are attributed to something non-cancerous. An examining doctor may put your cancer signs down to another condition and not refer you for further tests or expert medical treatment.
As a result of a cancer misdiagnosis, you are not referred for the correct treatment. In the UK all suspected cancer cases meeting the guidelines should go on an urgent, two-week wait list for a cancer consultant appointment.
Cancer misdiagnosis claims should be rare as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence produces detail guidelines for GPs for each type of cancer. A GP should never deviate from these guidelines otherwise they could face a cancer misdiagnosis compensation claim.
A cancer misdiagnosis means an unnecessary delay in the correct diagnosis, and treatment, of your cancer.
By the time you get to see the correct diagnosis, your cancer may be well advanced or spread.
If the cancer was negligently allowed to spread because of a cancer misdiagnosis then you would have a cancer misdiagnosis claim. You may have to undergo chemotherapy which would otherwise have been avoided but for the negligent delay in diagnosis.
Delay in cancer diagnosis
A delay in your cancer diagnosis means the cancer remains undiagnosed. It can develop into a much worse condition than it would have been but for the cancer misdiagnosis.
Treatment in cancer misdiagnosis cases being delayed often result in a more advanced cancer by the time of diagnosis. By the time treatment starts the breast cancer or lung cancer could be metastatic, and spreading to other parts of the body. The prognosis in some cases of a cancer misdiagnosis claim can sadly be terminal.
In the most tragic cases, the cancer misdiagnosis results in premature death that would have been avoided if it were not for the medical negligence.
Cancer misdiagnosis claims arise from medical negligence where there is an unnecessary delay in diagnosis. You, or any loved ones left behind, have a valid clinical negligence claim against the medical professionals responsible.
A specialist medical negligence solicitor will take your case and get you the compensation you deserve.
Types of cancer misdiagnosis
Types of cancer misdiagnosis are many, and the variety shows how often it happens.
When you go to the doctor or see a hospital consultant, you expect nothing but excellent medical care. If medical professionals do not do their job correctly, your health can suffer.
The Medical negligence claims process will uncover what happened and how much compensation you should get for the misdiagnosis of your breast cancer, lung cancer or any type of cancer misdiagnosis.
Types of cancer misdiagnosed as another condition include:
The symptoms of cancer may not always be clear, but that is not an excuse for misdiagnosis.
Cancer misdiagnosed as kidney stones claim
Cancer misdiagnosed as kidney stones happens as the two health conditions share similar symptoms.
If you present at the doctor’s or hospital consultant’s clinic with pain down your side, blood in the urine and a high temperature, it could be kidney stones.
The symptoms such as blood in urine are also those of kidney cancer. Your doctor should not assume you only have kidney stones and not investigate further for cancer. If you meet the criteria based on the NICE guidelines your doctor should refer you for investigations such as bloods, cystoscopy and CT. In this scenario cancer would be assumed until it is excluded.
A cancer misdiagnosed as kidney stones can quickly spread to other organs and put your life in danger.
Cancer misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia claim
Cancer misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia is when symptoms such as chronic pain and fatigue are not identified as being possibly of lymphoma.
Your doctor is guilty of medical negligence by ignoring the signs of a possible lymphoma diagnosis.
A missed diagnosis of lymphoma claim
A missed diagnosis of lymphoma will cause a delay in your cancer treatment and prolong the time in hospital receiving medical treatment.
The medical negligence in not seeing the symptoms of lymphoma and attributing them to something else such as fibromyalgia.
Your medical negligence solicitor will obtain your medical records as evidence in any cancer misdiagnosis compensation claim.
Cancer misdiagnosed as adenomyosis claim
Cancer misdiagnosed as adenomyosis by a doctor is when they miss a tumour on an ultrasound. It is also the failure to order further medical tests when a diagnosis is unclear to them.
A doctor may diagnose a woman suffering from the symptoms of adenomyosis as a quick fix to a complex medical problem. By not investigating further, they can miss cancer of the uterus with the obvious issues that follow.
Medical negligence claims come from a doctor not doing their job correctly.
The negligent treatment of a cancer misdiagnosis costs valuable time when fighting the disease, and you can sue for medical negligence compensation.
Cancer misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis claim
Cancer misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis is part of many medical negligence claims. Instead of taking into account your full medical records and ordering further medical treatment and tests, the doctor makes a quick diagnosis.
The clinical negligence of a delayed diagnosis that results in personal injury and you can make a claim for the clinical negligence.
The missed signs of cancer
The missed signs of cancer polyarthritis will delay the treatment of a painful and life-threatening condition.
Early diagnosis and the specific treatment of your cancer are essential in your making a quick and complete recovery.
Your medical negligence solicitor will consider all these case details when putting together your medical negligence compensation claim.
Who is at fault for a cancer misdiagnosis?
A medical professional is at fault for a cancer misdiagnosis. This can be a GP, consultant or surgeon.
Often, your GP does not refer you for further tests when they should be picking up on your cancer symptoms.
It could be a hospital consultant not reading a scan or blood results correctly. The hospital may misinterpret histology as being clear or fail to follow you up.
A cancer misdiagnosis claim can also occur when you have treatment for cancer when it turns out that you do not have cancer at all.
For example when you have been referred for cancer investigations your investigations will often be discussed at a Multi-Disciplinary-Team meeting known as a MDT.
This is where various patients’ cases are discussed and sadly it can occur that results can be mixed up or misread. Someone who does not have cancer could therefore have treatment for cancer they do not have and someone who has cancer may get no treatment at all.
We are all human but it is completely unacceptable from a cancer misdiagnosis claim perspective to get results mixed up or wrong in this scenario.
What is the average payout for cancer misdiagnosis?
The average payout for cancer misdiagnosis is around £65,000 in the UK.
When someone dies from cancer and they have children under 18 or a husband, wife or civil partner for two years (living together) they would immediately be entitled to a bereavement award of just over £15,000.
You can then also claim for what is known as general damages for the pain and suffering, surgery or cancer treatments which would have been avoided. These general damages can commonly run into the tens of thousands pounds.
If your husband, wife or civil partner leaves behind dependents then special damages can be claimed for future loss of earnings. These amounts can often take the overall claim value into the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Medical negligence claims differ in how much compensation is awarded depending on the circumstances.
The steps to follow for a cancer misdiagnosis medical negligence claim
The steps to follow for a cancer misdiagnosis medical negligence claim are easy to manage. When you know what you are doing and how to do it, your medical negligence case will go quickly.
Step 1: Seek medical advice
Seek medical advice as soon as you realise you have suffered a cancer misdiagnosis. It could be after further tests or if you are not getting better.
Step 2: Contact a medical negligence solicitor
Contact a medical negligence solicitor when you get confirmation of the cancer misdiagnosis. Expert medical negligence solicitors will know what to do next and advise you on further action.
Always employ a No Win No Fee specialist medical negligence solicitor who will not charge you in the case of an unsuccessful claim.
You should only use a medical negligence lawyer approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to make a claim for compensation.
At the Medical Negligence Team we operate a No Win No Fee policy. We also have a 100% Compensation Guarantee scheme where you keep every penny of your compensation.
Step 3: Your solicitor obtains your medical records
Your solicitor obtains your medical records with your permission. Once they receive your records from the doctors, consultants or private hospitals involved, the notes are reviewed
The Medical Negligence Team will then confirm if you have a winnable negligence case.
A dedicated firm of medical negligence solicitors should have a staff of medically qualified experts to help with medical negligence claims.
Obtaining medical records where a loved one has passed away.
Obtaining medical records where a loved one has passed away was once a complex process. For the records, an application had to be made to Primary Care Support England. A medical professional would then have to review and redact documents before they could be released.
Thankfully since 1 April 2022, this process has now stopped, and the records can be obtained promptly.
When your solicitor sees clear medical negligence, they can sue for compensation on your or a loved one’s behalf.
Step 4: Sending a letter of claim
Sending a letter of claim is the next step when your medical records show you have a sustainable cancer misdiagnosis medical negligence claim.
Your medical negligence solicitor will write to the negligent party outlining your right to make a claim and request an answer admitting the medical negligence.
Once the negligent party receives this letter, they have four months to respond to it.
Step 5: Getting a response
Getting a response to the medical negligence claim should happen within the mandatory four months. If the medical negligence is admitted, your compensation claim can be valued and settled.
If the medical practitioners deny liability, your medical negligence solicitors will have to take the next step in settling your compensation claim.
Step 6: Issuing court proceedings
Issuing court proceedings happens when the negligent party’s solicitor denies liability for the medical negligence. It can happen too if the offer of compensation is below that due to you for negligence.
Your specialist legal advice will tell you what to accept and issue any court proceedings for you to make a claim.
Less than 1% of all clinical negligence cases end up at trial.
At the Medical Negligence Team we use our experience to sue for a quick resolution to all cases.
Our Process
Our team members have a higher career win rate with a 75% success rate on NHS letters of claim, compared to an industry average of 54.5%.
Enquiry
The first step is to get in touch and tell us what went wrong. It’s free and easy. Call our 24-hour helpline: 0800 246 1122 or request a callback here.
Medical Evaluation
Once you have spoken with our team we’ll let you know how we can help. Typically the next step is to obtain your medical records for us to review.
Legal Letter
Once all your medical records have been received they will be reviewed by a medically & legally qualified member of our team. If there is evidence of negligence we will send a letter of claim to the negligent party outlining your compensation claim.
Contact us for all medical negligence claims
Contact us for all medical negligence claims. Our team of medical negligence solicitors specialise in all types of medical negligence claims, including misdiagnosis of cancer.
We will take your case from day one and get you the compensation you deserve. Our No Win No Fee policy and 100% Compensation Guarantee take all the financial risk out of your medical negligence claim.
Contact the Medical Negligence Team today for all your medical negligence needs.
