It is important that cancer is diagnosed accurately to give you the best chance of receiving the right treatment and for you to begin the recovery process. When symptoms are missed or not interpreted correctly and cancer is misdiagnosed the experience can be traumatic and life threatening.
If there’s a chance you have cancer, it’s important that you are assessed by a doctor and diagnosed accurately and as soon as possible. This is to give you the chance to get the right treatment and begin the recovery process.
In most cases, a doctor will make a diagnosis in time for their patient to get suitable medical treatment. However, there are times when symptoms are missed or not interpreted correctly, and cancer is misdiagnosed. Alternatively, a patient might be told that they have cancer when they don’t. Either way, the experience can be traumatic and life threatening if cancer is left undetected for some time.
If you believe you might have experienced a misdiagnosis, this is a form of medical negligence and you could be able to claim compensation for a misdiagnosis of cancer.
At Been Let Down, we understand what you’re going through and will help you to seek the damages you are entitled to. We have a team that’s experienced in pursuing cancer misdiagnosis claims, and we will work with you to find out what happened and assist you in taking your case forward.
Head of Clinical Negligence (Liverpool), Sara Stanger, secured justice for her client, after her husband sadly lost his life due to a delayed cancer diagnosis.
Click here to read moreAs with any illness or disease, a delayed or incorrect diagnosis can have catastrophic results. Cancer is a very serious disease if it is not detected and treated early. As cancer develops, it progresses through a number of stages, becoming increasingly advanced and hard to treat.
If the illness is detected early, the chances of treatment being successful are much higher. This is why it’s essential that your doctor detects cancer at the earliest possible stage. If you’re diagnosed in the later stages of cancer and if you have visited your doctor on recent occasions, the question needs to be asked as to why your diagnosis was delayed.
According to Cancer Research UK, around 115,000 cancer patients in England are diagnosed too late to give them the best chance of survival. With this figure in mind, it’s clear that if you’ve been misdiagnosed or received a delayed cancer diagnosis, you’re not alone.
Before any cancer misdiagnosis claims can be made, it’s worth having a clear understanding of what this type of medical negligence covers. The term ‘misdiagnosis’ generally refers to an occasion where a doctor provides a delayed or inaccurate diagnosis of a medical condition, illness or injury. This mistake can hold up treatment or mean that there’s no treatment at all, leading to the patient’s condition getting worse, or even causing their death.
While not all cancers are necessarily life threatening, some can be if left untreated. Others may start out in one area before spreading to other parts of the body, which is known as metastasis. Early diagnosis can help to introduce any necessary treatments to prevent it spreading. If there have been missed or incorrect cancer diagnoses, there may be grounds for putting forward cancer misdiagnosis claims.
Your cancer diagnosis may have been missed because:
Your doctor may have not linked your symptoms to cancer and incorrectly given you a clean bill of health.
In this case, the cancer was detected in the early stages but was incorrectly diagnosed. It is possible for patients to be treated incorrectly and even to undergo surgical and medical procedures that were not required.
In cases of breast cancer, for example, women may have had breast tissue taken away in error, leaving them emotionally and physically scarred. If you or a loved one are in this position, our medical negligence team can help you to make a claim.
You are diagnosed with cancer, but it’s taken too long to recognise what it is and has metastasised or worsened your condition.
As well as failing to diagnose your cancer in time or correctly, a medical professional can be clinically negligent if any of the following occurred:
The impact of any of these scenarios can be physically and psychologically traumatic for you as the patient, or as the family member who may have lost someone due to this type of negligence. In any of these situations, we can help you to seek compensation for misdiagnosis of the cancer you or a loved one has.
When making a claim, it’s important to consider what would have been done differently and what would have been the outcome if your diagnosis had been made on time. The law doesn’t hold doctors responsible for every incorrect diagnosis. Therefore, there are three things that you need to prove as part of a cancer misdiagnosis claim:
To prove negligence occurred, we’ll need to prove there was:
Was your doctor at fault to the extent that they did not provide you with the expected and required level of care?
Did you suffer actual harm, injury or loss as a direct result of this lack of care?
It makes no difference what type of cancer you have, since all forms are considered when it comes to compensation claims for misdiagnosis of cancer. Regardless of whether you have prostate, bowel, stomach, skin, or any other type of cancer, you’ll find that our expert team is on hand to talk to you.
Our professional medical compensation team have years of experience and knowledge behind them, so you can be confident that you will be treated with the utmost consideration and respect. We cannot make the problem go away, but we will do all we can to put right what has been done wrong.
Whether you want to talk to us about your breast cancer misdiagnosis or you’re making a claim for lung cancer misdiagnosis, we can help you move forward at this difficult time.
The potential implications of a cancer misdiagnosis or late diagnosis can’t be understated. It can lead to premature death and/or shortened life expectancy, so there can be serious consequences if things are missed.
As well as the physical toll, there’s the possibility of missing out on work or having to cover the cost of treatment and this can lead to money problems. Financial worries can impact on a person’s mental wellbeing.
Additionally, a misdiagnosis can lead to the missed opportunity for potentially life-saving treatment, or even cause a patient to undergo unnecessary treatments. If you have suffered a cancer misdiagnosis, you may have experienced some of these problems and you deserve to be compensated for having to go through this.
Cancer misdiagnosis claims are designed to help those who have been through so much get the compensation they deserve to get their lives back on track. When you speak to us and explain what happened, we’ll be there every step of the way.
For medical negligence claims, there is usually a time limit of three years for you to bring the claim. In the case of misdiagnosis, this time limit applies from the date the injury or harm occurred, or from the date that you found out about the negligence.
We will be able to advise you which of these will apply in your case. Different rules on time limits also apply to children and protected parties, allowing more time to bring a claim.
Medical negligence claims may feel overwhelming and complex, but our team of solicitors specialise in successful cancer misdiagnosis claims. Our experience and specialist knowledge means we provide the expertise that is essential to help you get the compensation you deserve.
If we think your case will be successful, we will investigate your funding options. Most of our cases are handled on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis, which means that you only pay if you win. This payment will be a pre-agreed amount/percentage of the compensation you’re awarded. We also guarantee that you will keep the maximum amount of compensation. Unlike many other legal firms, when you come to us you will be speaking to a solicitor from the outset, and all initial consultations will be free of charge and at no obligation to you. We’ll listen carefully and sensitively, and if we believe that you could win, we’ll take your case forward.
Our friendly and experienced solicitors will discuss your claim with you. To start the claims process, contact us on our freephone number or via the simple contact form on our website. You’ll hear from one of our highly experienced legal team soon after you get in touch with us.
As there are time limits in place, it’s worth speaking to us about your case as soon as possible. No matter how complex your cancer misdiagnosis may seem, you have nothing to lose in contacting us. We understand this is a difficult time and that’s why we make sure you understand you’re under no obligation to proceed.
Get in touch today and find out if you can claim for compensation for your misdiagnosis of cancer. Call us on 0800 234 3234 or contact us and a member of our legal team will call you back.
Sara is a qualified Solicitor and Head of the Liverpool Clinical Negligence Department at Been Let Down.
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