£600,000 settlement for mother following 3.5 year delayed diagnosis of lung cancer
Arti Shah has recently settled a case for £600,000 for Monica, a mother whose lung cancer was missed for almost 3.5 years by the Royal Free Hospital and is now sadly incurable.
Monica developed asthma in her mid-forties and was under specialist care at the hospital when her Consultant suggested she could benefit from a new asthma drug. CT scans taken to see if she was eligible for the drug picked up significant abnormalities with one of her lungs, but the consultant did not investigate further, despite being prompted to investigate by the Radiologist and the CNS. Almost three and a half years later she was sadly diagnosed with lung cancer, which had progressed significantly in the time since the scan had been performed. She underwent an open right lower lobectomy and open right upper wedge resection and the removal of a number of lymph nodes, some of which were cancerous, followed by post-operative chemotherapy.
Due to the delay in diagnosis, Monica's cancer is now incurable, and she has a limited life expectancy. She does not know what the future holds. She is physically weakened by the surgeries, harsh chemotherapy and drugs, and lives with daily, ongoing pain. She is undergoing therapy to help deal with the anxiety, fear, anger and grief that her missed diagnosis has caused. Monica feels completely betrayed by her medical team, which she says has robbed her from seeing her teenage daughter grow up and become an adult. Monica is grieving for the loss her family will be faced with and the fact that she will not be there to celebrate her daughter's milestones or give a mother's support throughout her life.
Monica has had to return in part to her job in a school for financial reasons but is completely wiped out at the end of each day. She is no longer able to do gardening or go cycling for fear of being injured and said that on some days, the smallest of activities are an "insurmountable test."
Monica was able to meet with Royal Free to discuss her specific case, uncovering that Royal Free had investigated other such cases, but due to the volume they had stopped their investigations before they could identify and take earlier treatment for Monica. This added to the dismay of Monica. At this point Monica decided to engage Fieldfisher.
Monica instructed Arti after sending a letter of complaint to The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Less than 3 months after serving a Letter of Claim, Arti was able to secure an admission of liability. The Trust admitted that there had been a failure to act on abnormalities shown on a CT scan, which was a breach of duty, and that this failure led to the almost 3.5 year delay in diagnosis. It later also accepted that if these concerns had been investigated, the cancer would have been diagnosed at an earlier stage. Monica would have avoided invasive surgery, and her prognosis would have been better – she would have survived her lung cancer.
Arti instructed experts and served her evidence on the Defendant, to include 4 x expert reports, a detailed schedule of loss setting out Monica 's losses, and a witness statement, setting out the impact of the delayed diagnosis. The hope was to deal with the litigation swiftly to allow Monica to concentrate on the time she has left with her family. However, despite repeated extensions, the Defendant failed to respond, and pulled out of a Round Table Meeting (RTM) a week before it was due to take place. No settlement offers were forthcoming.
In light of the ongoing delays, Arti issued proceedings and entered Judgment. The Defendant had been in receipt of Monica's evidence for the best part of a year when it served its Defence. Further conversations ensued, and the Trust continued to refuse to make offers, or agree to attend an RTM, for reasons which remained unclear.
3 years after admitting liability, the Defendant made its first offer. It chose not to serve a counter schedule or expert evidence. Settlement discussions ensued, and Arti was able to secure £600,000 in damages for Monica.
Counsel instructed in the case was Jonatham Bertram at 7 Bedford Row.
* name changed
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For further information about delayed diagnosis claims and lung cancer misdiagnosis claims, please call Arti Shah on 03304606739 or email arti.shah@fieldfisher.com.
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