Cancer Misdiagnosis
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Cian O'Carroll Solicitors has a team of medical negligence solicitors and legal assistants with unparalleled experience in the complex legal area of cancer misdiagnosis litigation.
Legal actions can arise from misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, screening failures, delayed treatment and inappropriate treatment for a range of cancers and the cases are often both detailed and technical. Over the past 15 years our team has developed an understanding of the issues and built a network of leading experts in oncology, radiology and pathology who guide us and our clients to accurately and fairly determine when negligence has occurred and a legal action is justified. While best known for our work on CervicalCheck cases for advocates such as Vicky Phelan, Ruth Morrissey and Emma Mhic Mhathúna, over the past decade, our team has successfully represented hundreds of clients who were failed by the care they received leading to the development or delayed treatment of many types of cancer including:
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Cian O'Carroll Solicitors is currently representing a large number of clients who have suffered critical delays in the diagnosis of breast cancer, cervical cancers, cancers of the stomach and colon together with several clients affected by pharyngeal and prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment errors. Because of our experience in this very specialised area of legal practice, we are well positioned to advise our clients on the strength or otherwise of a case they may be considering and then progress that case, if taken, with speed and efficiency.
Where delays occur in the correct diagnosis of a cancer, patients can suffer in a number of different ways.
Loss of Chance of Survival
Most seriously, those who have suffered a misdiagnosis can suffer a loss of opportunity to make a good recovery. To put this another way, they may suffer a reduced chance to get better. This can be expressed as a percentage such as for example a 50% reduction in their chance of surviving the disease based on the statistical likelihood of being alive in say ten years time or as a period of years by which their ordinary life expectancy has been reduced.
Loss of chance of survival can be quite a complicated thing to assess and we work with a team of leading oncologists in a range of sub-specialties - typically in the UK - who advise us and our clients with independent and authoritative expert opinions on whether an unacceptable failure has occurred in a patient's care, whether that failure has caused the patient harm and finally, the nature and extent of that harm.
Cancer misdiagnosis cases are often quite complex with multiple issues intertwined and so it is essential that such cases are considered carefully at the earliest possible stage by an experienced medical negligence solicitor.
More Aggressive Course of Treatment
A patient with a cancer misdiagnosis will often require more aggressive treatment due to the delay in correctly diagnosing the cancer. This may result in surgery that would otherwise not have been necessary, radiotherapy and chemotherapy that would otherwise have been of less intensity, less duration or not required at all.
We assess the additional treatment directly attributable to the failure to diagnose and ensure that this treatment, all related costs and expenses and any future medical expenses are included in your case for compensation.
Psychological Distress
In addition, we may need to document a psychological or psychiatric injury such as depression or a shock reaction to our client on learning of the misdiagnosis and its consequences.
Financial Loss
Finally, there may be significant out of pocket expenses arising from a misdiagnosis including medical expenses, travelling expenses, additional treatment costs including those relating to treatment abroad or access to clinical trials, home alterations, childcare costs, loss of earnings and all types of future care costs and losses.
Urgency in Bringing Proceedings
A feature of many of our cancer misdiagnosis cases has been the speed with which we can bring a case from initial instruction to a successful conclusion. Such cases are usually the most tragic where the injured party is faced with an advanced or incurable cancer. In such circumstances the Court will make special arrangements to fast-track a case and we have become very experienced in making such applications and progressing those cases within a few short months. By doing so, we can ensure that the necessary care expenses are available for the injured party, often allowing them to remain at home and have all their necessary palliative care in the setting of their choice and with their family living around them. It can also bring great comfort to know that whatever about the deep emotional loss that will arise from their death, at the very least the family has been proved with some degree of financial security that would justly arise from the grave harm caused by the misdiagnosis. Where children or dependants are involved, this is often the most important aspect of the case for the injured party.
Where delays occur in the correct diagnosis of a cancer, patients can suffer in a number of different ways.
Loss of Chance of Survival
Most seriously, those who have suffered a misdiagnosis can suffer a loss of opportunity to make a good recovery. To put this another way, they may suffer a reduced chance to get better. This can be expressed as a percentage such as for example a 50% reduction in their chance of surviving the disease based on the statistical likelihood of being alive in say ten years time or as a period of years by which their ordinary life expectancy has been reduced.
Loss of chance of survival can be quite a complicated thing to assess and we work with a team of leading oncologists in a range of sub-specialties - typically in the UK - who advise us and our clients with independent and authoritative expert opinions on whether an unacceptable failure has occurred in a patient's care, whether that failure has caused the patient harm and finally, the nature and extent of that harm.
Cancer misdiagnosis cases are often quite complex with multiple issues intertwined and so it is essential that such cases are considered carefully at the earliest possible stage by an experienced medical negligence solicitor.
More Aggressive Course of Treatment
A patient with a cancer misdiagnosis will often require more aggressive treatment due to the delay in correctly diagnosing the cancer. This may result in surgery that would otherwise not have been necessary, radiotherapy and chemotherapy that would otherwise have been of less intensity, less duration or not required at all.
We assess the additional treatment directly attributable to the failure to diagnose and ensure that this treatment, all related costs and expenses and any future medical expenses are included in your case for compensation.
Psychological Distress
In addition, we may need to document a psychological or psychiatric injury such as depression or a shock reaction to our client on learning of the misdiagnosis and its consequences.
Financial Loss
Finally, there may be significant out of pocket expenses arising from a misdiagnosis including medical expenses, travelling expenses, additional treatment costs including those relating to treatment abroad or access to clinical trials, home alterations, childcare costs, loss of earnings and all types of future care costs and losses.
Urgency in Bringing Proceedings
A feature of many of our cancer misdiagnosis cases has been the speed with which we can bring a case from initial instruction to a successful conclusion. Such cases are usually the most tragic where the injured party is faced with an advanced or incurable cancer. In such circumstances the Court will make special arrangements to fast-track a case and we have become very experienced in making such applications and progressing those cases within a few short months. By doing so, we can ensure that the necessary care expenses are available for the injured party, often allowing them to remain at home and have all their necessary palliative care in the setting of their choice and with their family living around them. It can also bring great comfort to know that whatever about the deep emotional loss that will arise from their death, at the very least the family has been proved with some degree of financial security that would justly arise from the grave harm caused by the misdiagnosis. Where children or dependants are involved, this is often the most important aspect of the case for the injured party.
LocationIndaville, Boherclogh, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, E25 V448
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