A Fatal Delay in Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis

Our specialist medical negligence solicitors at Fletchers Solicitors, settled a Fatal Accidents claim for over £360,000 in compensation acting for our client’s family.

Our client died as a result of a very rare form of head and neck cancer. Our team of expert lawyers were instructed to investigate a potential delay in diagnosis.

Our client had presented to her General Practitioner on a number of occasions complaining about lumps on her head. She was reassured and told they were harmless sebaceous cysts; however, because these suspected cysts were irritating her (she would catch them with her hair brush), they were removed. Contrary to wider general practice, the removed lumps were not sent to be tested for cancer.

In the months following the removal of the second suspected sebaceous cyst from her head, our client started to become increasingly unwell. Her General Practitioner eventually referred her to hospital, and after further delay, she was sadly diagnosed with cancer, which by this stage had spread from her head to her neck.

Our client underwent chemotherapy and major surgery, but unfortunately this particularly aggressive form of cancer spread to other areas of her body. Despite her courageous fight and the love and care of her family, she sadly died.

We investigated what had happened and obtained reports from leading medical experts in General Practice and Oncology. They were clear that our client’s GP should have sent samples of the two lumps removed from her head for testing and should not have assumed they were harmless sebaceous cysts.

If the lumps had been properly tested, cancer would have been identified. Our client would have then received urgent medical treatment, which our Oncology expert reported would have led to a complete cure with full life expectancy.

The case was put to the Defendant GP in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes. His professional indemnity provider initially defended the claim. We robustly responded and invited them to consider settlement, which after intensive negotiations, was achieved in the sum of over £360,000.

This compensation included a substantial award of General Damages because our client endured over two years of avoidable pain and distress from the misdiagnosis. Other elements focused on the loss of financial dependency (salary and pension) suffered by her spouse and for the loss of services our client would have provided to her family, particularly her grandchildren.

This was a particularly upsetting case because our client died on the cusp of retirement, when she was looking forward to spending more time with her spouse and family. No amount of money could ever fully compensate her family for her death, but it provides financial security and reassurance about future income.

Our expert medical negligence lawyers at Fletchers Solicitors specialise exclusively in medical negligence law and have renowned expertise in Fatal Claims cases.

More information about Fatal Claims can be found here, and information about our team of expert medical negligence lawyers is available here.

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