Mr A approached us because he had been told that an x-ray of his chest, done 4 years previously, was abnormal and should have resulted in a follow up x-ray of his chest, but was not done. He was not told anything was wrong with the first x-ray at the time.
4 years later, when a new chest x-ray was carried out, the abnormality seen on the first x-ray had grown and was subsequently diagnosed as being lung cancer.
Upsettingly, because of the 4-year delay in diagnosis and treatment, his lung cancer had grown such that it could no longer be cured. It was alleged that with treatment 4 years earlier, Mr A’s lung cancer was curable. Meaning that the delay in his diagnosis and treatment resulted in our client’s life expectancy being reduced.
When we wrote to them to set out our client’s claim, the defendant hospital admitted that they had been negligent in failing to diagnose the lung cancer 4 years earlier than it was but denied this caused Mr A’s life expectancy to be reduced. According to the defendant hospital, this was an opinion expressed by their own expert. The defendant made a low settlement offer – which Mr A rejected on our advice.
We pushed for an interim compensation payment for Mr A, which the defendant hospital agreed to pay. Mr A was able to use it to go on a short holiday.
In an attempt to settle the claim without the need to start court proceedings, we sent our expert report to the defendant hospital and invited them to show us their expert report – but they refused. They also did not increase their offer.
We therefore had no choice but to start court proceedings and force the defendant to engage fully with the claim.
After starting court proceedings, the defendant hospital made a reasonable settlement offer for our client’s compensation, which was 7 times higher than the first offer they had made, and which was accepted by our client.
Our client Mr A did receive his compensation payment before passing away.
How can we help you?
If you, or a loved one, have suffered from the serious consequence of delayed or missed diagnosis of a health condition then we may be able to help. Our medical negligence team benefits from in-house medical knowledge from our head of department, Linda Schermer-Jones, who is dual qualified doctor and solicitor. We therefore have the ability to quickly and efficiently assess areas of potential negligence you, or a loved one, may have suffered.
Please do not hesitate to contact one of our specialised team members today for free advice regarding whether you may have a potential medical negligence claim on 01244 354688.