Liverpool University Hospital Trust admits full liability in missed cancer case
Liverpool University Hospital NHS Trust has accepted full liability in the case of a mother of four whose cancer was missed by doctors that dismissed her symptoms as damage from childbirth.
Lindsay Holt's client, Amy, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma two and a half years after she first attended the Emergency Department of Liverpool University Hospital with excruciating pain in her pelvis and swelling of her stomach.
Her pain spread to her leg and her ribs and she developed incontinence of the bladder and bowel. Despite several assessments and scans carried out at the Liverpool Women's Hospital she was told it was a result of muscle damage caused during the birth of her son months earlier, and was advised to undergo intrusive treatment
It wasn't until she was rushed for an emergency MRI scan at Liverpool University Hospital 29 months after she first attended, that Amy was told she had cancer in her spine. Doctors checked the scan from that first emergency visit and realised that an abnormality had not been followed up.
She was given the news that she had multiple myeloma while she was alone and in the hospital corridor.
By the time Amy was diagnosed, the multiple myeloma – a blood cancer – had spread to her spine and caused an abnormal bone mass in the lower back, which had caused Cauda Equina Syndrome. If the cancer had been detected following the first scan, she would have avoided her spinal injury.
Prior to her illness, Amy dedicated her life to her children – three of whom still live at home - and did everything around the house while her husband worked as a delivery driver to support the family.
Since her diagnosis he has had to give up work to care for her and the children.
Amy's life has been irrevocably changed by her illness, which would not have progressed so far had the abnormal scan been acted on. She can no longer walk far unaided and relies on her husband to help her move around the house. She still suffers from incontinence and weakness in her lower limbs and is on a range of medications to manage the pain.
She says she feels concerned that "all of the weight" is on her husband's shoulders as he copes with the children, the house and her ongoing disability. Amy, who has always taken pride in her appearance, feels a loss of personal dignity from the effects of cauda equina syndrome and says the intimacy with her husband has been impacted.
Amy says she is devastated that her diagnosis was delayed and that she is frightened about the future.
The Trust has made an admission of full liability, accepting that it failed to act on the abnormality first identified 29 months before her diagnosis. The Trust accepts that with proper treatment her multiple myeloma would have been diagnosed following the first scan, it would not have become as advanced, her treatment would not have been as extensive and the injury to her spine, and its associated effects would have been prevented.
The Trust has apologised to Amy and an interim payment has been made. The claim is now being quantified.
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For further information about cancer misdiagnosis claims and medical negligence claims, please call Lindsay Holt on 03304606789 or email lindsay.holt@fieldfisher.com.
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