Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
The effects of a misdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, or missed diagnosis of breast cancer can be physically and emotionally devastating for both patients and their families. If you have suffered due to breast cancer malpractice you may be able to make a No Win No Fee claim.
- Medical negligence experts, certified by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
- Many legal services offered No Win No Fee
- In-house team with over 15 years of experience to help you win
- Strong client success stories across England and Wales
Breast cancer: Misdiagnosis and malpractice
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 15% of all new cancer cases. There are various types, but invasive breast cancer starts as a growth of abnormal cells in or around the breast tissue and can spread to other parts of the body over time.
Unfortunately, medical professionals can make mistakes in the process of diagnosing breast cancer. Examples of breast cancer malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis: When a healthcare professional diagnoses another disease or condition, but the patient had breast cancer. An example could be mistaking a cancerous lump for a benign cyst.
- Overdiagnosis: If a benign cyst or early-stage cancer is diagnosed as more serious or advanced than it is, patients may undergo unnecessary tests or treatments. This can cause pain and health complications.
- Missed diagnosis: When symptoms don’t lead to any diagnosis. For example, a radiologist could decide that a mammogram shows normal tissues when the patient has cancer.
The impact of any of these situations can be physically and emotionally devastating for patients and their families. No matter the circumstances, we can help you to seek the breast cancer misdiagnosis compensation you deserve.
About breast cancer misdiagnosis claims
All medical professionals have a legal duty of care owed to their patients. It’s their responsibility to recognise and respond to the symptoms of breast cancer appropriately.
If they fail in their duty of care and there’s clear evidence of breast cancer misdiagnosis, the patient has grounds to make a claim if this has caused them an injury. Overlooked symptoms or incorrect diagnoses may lead to exacerbating symptoms, patients requiring additional treatment and/or giving patients a worse prognosis.
Similarly, if someone is wrongly told that they have breast cancer, the consequences could include painful and time-consuming treatment. In any case, receiving unnecessary chemotherapy is a serious form of hospital negligence.
While nothing can remove the pain of experiencing breast cancer misdiagnosis, making a claim for compensation could help patients and their families to move on. Speaking to our team of specialist breast cancer claims solicitors is one way to start the process.
The facts about breast cancer
According to leading charity Breast Cancer Now, one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 10 minutes. Around 55,000 women and 400 men are diagnosed with the disease every year, and one in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.
The NHS invites all women aged between 50 and 71 for a breast screening, or mammogram, every three years. If registered with a GP, you’ll be invited automatically with a letter.
Fortunately, breast cancer is treatable when it’s caught early. Nearly nine out of 10 women survive breast cancer for at least five years. However, if the mammogram fails to detect cancerous tissues, patients may be at risk of a delay in breast cancer diagnosis.
Symptoms of breast cancer
Both men and women should regularly check their chests. This is the best way to know what’s normal for their body, and will make any changes to the chest or nipples appear more obvious and easily noticeable.
The symptoms of breast cancer in women include:
- Lump or swelling in the armpit or breast
- A change in the size or shape of one or both breasts
- Dimpling, redness, or another change in the skin on the breast
- Discharge from the nipple, which might contain blood
- Inverted (turned inwards), irritated, or otherwise different nipples
- Prolonged and persistent pain in the breast or armpit
Men can get breast cancer too. The symptoms to look out for are similar to those seen in women, but men may also notice sores or ulcers on their chest. Even though the percentage of men who develop breast cancer is small, there’s still a risk of breast cancer misdiagnosis.
Having one or more of these symptoms doesn’t immediately mean that someone has breast cancer. However, it’s important to get checked by a doctor if anything doesn’t feel right.
When to see a doctor
If you have any of the above symptoms, it’s important to see your GP as soon as possible. There, you’ll be examined and asked a few questions. If no obvious signs of cancer are found, your GP might ask you to come back in a few weeks to check again.
You will be referred to a hospital specialist breast clinic if your GP thinks your symptoms indicate the possibility of breast cancer. You should then expect to be examined again, and the doctors might also carry out an ultrasound scan or mammogram. If you have a lump, your medical team may also perform a breast biopsy.
Further tests will be carried out if the results show you may have breast cancer. The sooner breast cancer is diagnosed, the better your outcome is likely to be.
Why make a breast cancer misdiagnosis claim?
If you think you’ve received improper medical care of any kind relating to your breast cancer diagnosis, you could have a valid claim to make against the medical professionals involved.
Being diagnosed with breast cancer is extremely upsetting. For people who encounter misdiagnosis or medical malpractice, on top of their existing symptoms, treatments and other major life changes, the experience may become traumatic. At Been Let Down, we support you to go ahead with your claim to help with your recovery – or to grieve the loss of a loved one and start to process life without them.
Our team of medical negligence experts can bring you the right expertise and compassion to help you make a claim. We’ll do everything in our power to secure breast cancer misdiagnosis compensation quickly and successfully. If your case goes to court, we’ll guide you at every step of the process.
Our experience with breast cancer claims
Carla Duprey Solicitor in our Medical Negligence Team says;
“I have dealt with a number of breast cancer misdiagnosis claims. I can therefore attest that many clients feel very let down by the medical professionals they have seen and feel emotional drained and frustrated that their concerns were not listened to. Our independent legal team can offer no-win no-fee funding for your case, ensuring you receive the justice you deserve without the financial burden. Trust in our team’s expertise to overcome the complexities of breast cancer claims and secure the compensation you need and deserve.”
Breast cancer claims: FAQs
Once you’ve confirmed you’re ready to start a breast cancer misdiagnosis claim, we’ll assign one of our specialists to your case. The process begins as follows:
- We first need to gather evidence of the situation, including photographs, medical records, scans, test results and doctors’ notes. We use these to determine whether your medical team failed in their duty of care.
If we determine you’ve potentially suffered breast cancer medical malpractice, we’ll then move to the next steps:
- We’ll draft a statement that includes all the details surrounding your case. With your approval, we send this to independent medical experts for confirmation.
- A formal Letter of Claim will be written and forwarded to the medical teams accused of carrying out negligent care while you or a loved one had breast cancer. This will cover the circumstances and explain why they were at fault.
- Finally, if the defendant admits their liability, we will negotiate a fair amount of compensation for you or your family.
We may need to take your case to court if the defendant denies liability or fails to agree a fair amount of compensation. We take every possible step to avoid going to court, but if it’s the only option, we’ll support you and provide regular updates throughout the process. If you’d like to learn more, please get in touch with our team.
The compensation payout awarded to you will depend on the nature of your case and the circumstances you’ve faced.
At Been Let Down, we think about every detail. The length of your recovery, plus the extent of any pain or suffering caused, are key factors in the process of calculating your payout.
When considering compensation awards, our solicitors refer to the latest edition of the Judicial College Guidelines and to case law to make sure we are claiming appropriate amounts of compensation on your behalf. The Judicial College Guidelines recommend approved pay ranges for various complex claims.
The grades and stages of breast cancer are determined by tests and scans. The grade indicates how abnormal the cells appear under the microscope, while the stage describes the cancer’s size and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.
- Stage 1 breast cancer affects smaller areas, either found only in breast tissues or within surrounding lymph nodes.
- Stage 2 breast cancer means it could be in the breast or nearby lymph nodes, or both.
- Stage 3 indicates the cancer has spread from the breast to nearby lymph nodes, the skin of the breast, or the chest wall.
- Stage 4 is also called advanced cancer and has spread to other parts of the body such as the lungs, bones, brain or liver.
The NHS states that cancer is not typically inherited.
However, some types of cancer – including breast cancer – can be influenced by genetics, so breast cancer can run in families. However, although some cancers are more likely to be inherited than others, it’s estimated that only 5 to 10% of breast cancers are caused by an inherited faulty gene.
Routine screening prevents around 1,300 breast cancer deaths every year.
But, unfortunately, the physical signs of breast cancer can be overlooked. Although rare, mammograms in the UK miss breast cancer in about one in every 2,500 women screened.
Breast cancer misdiagnosis is more likely to occur when the early signs and symptoms are missed in a clinical setting. For example, medical professionals may mistake a tumour for a cyst, fibrocystic breast tissue, or even pregnancy-related breast changes.
Why choose Been Let Down to help you claim for breast cancer misdiagnosis?
Whether you’d like to claim for yourself or on behalf of a loved one, we can help you. At Been Let Down, we are always professional yet compassionate when dealing with breast cancer claims. Our medical negligence specialists use a tailored and proactive approach to guide your case to success.
Here are just a few of the reasons to choose our support:
- We offer many cases on a No Win No Fee basis so you won’t pay a penny unless you win.
- We’re authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
- Our lawyers are members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, The Law Society and Liverpool Law Society.
- We’ve got nearly 20 years’ experience as a trusted independent law firm.
- Our unwavering service has earned us hundreds of positive reviews from our clients.
Contact us today
Whether it occurred at your GP practice, in an NHS hospital or with a private company, you deserve to be compensated fairly and fully for breast cancer misdiagnosis or malpractice. When medical professionals fail to provide the appropriate care, we’re here to hold them accountable.
Get in touch with Been Let Down today to start your breast cancer claim with one of our expert solicitors. Please call us on 0800 234 3234 or enquire online and we’ll call you back as soon as possible.
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Sara is a qualified Solicitor and Head of the Liverpool Clinical Negligence Department at Been Let Down.
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