CianO'Carroll - Medical Negligence & Personal Injury Law Firm
  • Home
  • Medical Negligence
    • CervicalCheck Cancer Misdiagnosis Cases
    • Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis
    • Other Cancer Misdiagnoses
    • Birth injuries, Brain Injuries & Cerebral Palsy
    • Maternal Birth Injuries
    • Surgical Negligence
    • Accident & Emergency Negligence
    • Autism Related Injuries & Birth Trauma
    • Fatal Injury Cases and Inquests
    • Defective Medical Devices >
      • DePuy Hip Implant Recall
      • Implanon Contraceptive Failure
  • Personal Injury
    • Head, Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
    • Road Traffic Accidents >
      • Motorbike Accidents
      • Road Traffic Accident - Do's & Dont's
    • Fatal Injuries
    • Workplace Accident
  • More
    • About
    • Our Blog
    • Success Stories
    • In The Media
    • Legal Fees
  • Our People
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Medical Negligence
    • CervicalCheck Cancer Misdiagnosis Cases
    • Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis
    • Other Cancer Misdiagnoses
    • Birth injuries, Brain Injuries & Cerebral Palsy
    • Maternal Birth Injuries
    • Surgical Negligence
    • Accident & Emergency Negligence
    • Autism Related Injuries & Birth Trauma
    • Fatal Injury Cases and Inquests
    • Defective Medical Devices >
      • DePuy Hip Implant Recall
      • Implanon Contraceptive Failure
  • Personal Injury
    • Head, Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
    • Road Traffic Accidents >
      • Motorbike Accidents
      • Road Traffic Accident - Do's & Dont's
    • Fatal Injuries
    • Workplace Accident
  • More
    • About
    • Our Blog
    • Success Stories
    • In The Media
    • Legal Fees
  • Our People
  • Contact
LATEST NEWS

Husband settles action against HSE over wife's death

Woman, 36, settles case over alleged delay in cervical cancer diagnosis

Ireland’s Best Law Firms 2023: full list

Solicitor suggests Brandon victims could sue HSE

Mother loses action over alleged negligence in fertility treatment

Woman with terminal cancer alleges misreporting of cervical smear, court hears

Girl with rare cancerous condition settles case over diagnosis for €4.9m

Vicky Phelan says hundreds of daily letters from supporters get her through lonely nights

Woman sues over alleged misreporting of smear slide

Family of Cork mother who died of cervical cancer settle High Court action

Vicky Phelan starts new podcast about legal battle and ongoing cancer treatment in the US. 

Husband sues for surrogacy costs after wife's death from cervical cancer. 

'I didn't think I'd be here three years later, still fighting': Vicky Phelan on her court case. 

Failure of the government to honour their promises to the women harmed through the cervicalcheck screening negligence.  

Tipperary hospital apologies for failing in care of man during seven hour operation.

Injuries to mothers during child birth 3rd 4th degree tears.

Sunday business post profile: Cian O'Carroll a very public advocate. 

€7.25m settlement approved for boy who suffered traumatic brain injury and included autism at birth in landmark case.

The Irish Times profile on solicitors 28/07/2018 Siobhan Ryan & Cian O'Connor.

'I didn't think I'd be here three years later, still fighting': Vicky Phelan on her court case

5/5/2021

0 Comments

 
The cervical cancer campaigner takes a look at the CervicalCheck scandal in podcast with solicitor Cian O'Carroll in part two of 'In Conversation with Vicky Phelan'
Picture
Vicky Phelan: "I didn't think I'd be here three years later, still fighting for answers"

The second episode of a new podcast series from Cian O’Carroll Solicitors,  In Conversation with Vicky Phelan, sees the campaigner delve into her legal battle following incorrect smear test results. 

Speaking over Zoom with O'Carroll, her legal representative, the pair give an overview of events leading up to the 2018 judgement - and the very real lessons they learned along the way.

They share their accrued knowledge on how to take a court case against institutional issues like the CervicalCheck scandal, and answer the frequently asked questions of the case.

Devastating news

"In January of 2018, I'd just been diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. Three months previously, I had a sit-down with my gynaecologist, who had wanted to have a chat with me about an audit that had taken place in CervicalCheck," says Phelan. 

"It came out of nowhere, and at a time when I didn't know my cancer was back... I was happy to park it at the time because I was happy to be cancer-free.

"But while I was waiting for a biopsy in a treatment room, bored off my head, I looked through my file and found a report about my file. I knew there was more to this audit than what I was told. I knew there was a chance I could have been misdiagnosed, and I sought legal representation.
​

"I never thought three years later that it'd set off one of the largest legal scandals in the history of the State."
Picture
Cian O'Carroll and Vicky Phelan in conversation during episode one of the podcast, last week.

Screenings 

O'Carroll and Phelan set out an overview of the rollout of the CervicalCheck system in the wake of a backlog of cases in the 2000s. The backlog led to a tender for outsourced lab work, landed by a US firm.

They explain the resultant issues, including slides being further outsourced to secondary labs, before getting into Phelan's case.

"The advantage of being the first case is that the HSE didn't know what was coming," says Phelan. "We got documents that, had they known what was coming, they wouldn't have released. 

"They were confident I'd sign a non-disclosure agreement - they weren't banking on me being as bolshy and as stubborn as I am."

"The day I stood on those court steps, reading that statement, I didn't think I'd be here three years later, still fighting for answers for women, and myself, and to improve outcomes."

Composure

The immediate aftermath of the court case - including the headline-grabbing €2.5m settlement -  is highlighted. 

Phelan speaks about the importance she knew her words carried. Preparation for interviews was all-important, but so too was an even keel, she says. 

"I had to be measured. It was a very difficult balancing act for me, because I could have [gone on the air] and slammed the whole health service, told women not to go get their smears, but I didn't, because I knew women would listen to me, and not get their smears.

"I know how bad this cancer is, and there's no cure for it, so I didn't want more women being diagnosed, I want less, in fact.
​

"It was all about exposing the harm, and working with them to improve the system."
Elsewhere in the podcast, Phelan and O'Carroll discuss the Scally Report, which found that 90% of the country's cervical tests had been outsourced to labs that hadn't been inspected since 2014.  
​

The episode is streaming in the player above, and available for streaming on Spotify.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Scandal
    Brian Rossiter Inquiry
    Cancer Misdiagnosis
    Cian O'Carroll
    Gillian O'Sullivan V. DePuy International Limited
    Gwen Bradley V. HSE
    HSE & CPL Inc.
    Inquest Of The Late Grace McDermott
    McCarthy V. HSE
    Sliwa V. HSE
    Vicky Phelan & Jim Phelan V

    RSS Feed

Irelands best law firm
Location
Indaville, Boherclogh, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, E25 V448
Sitemap
HOME
ABOUT
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
PERSONAL INJURY
NEWS
MEDIA
CONTACT


Disclaimer
Privacy Policy
Copyright
Site map



Cian O'Carroll Solicitors - specialised medical negligence law firm

Contact Us

FreePhone:  1-800 60-70-80 
Phone:  062 64455
Email: info@cocs.ie

© 2020 Cian O'Carroll Solicitors
Website Design By Hillyfield Productions
​