A 55-YEAR-OLD woman whose breast cancer diagnosis was delayed by 18 months because of laboratory errors has said she feels let down by the State Claims Agency almost four years after her case was initiated.
Speaking out for the first time about her claim, Patient A told The Irish Timesabout her battle for compensation.
The Tipperary woman was referred to Barrington’s private hospital, Limerick, in 2005 after she discovered a lump on her breast. A biopsy was taken in September and sent to a laboratory at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) for testing. It returned negative and she was given the all-clear.
In March 2007, following concerns raised by the woman, a second sample was taken. It was also sent to UCHG and it too returned negative.
Shortly afterward, another sample was sent to a laboratory in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, where it was identified as positive for cancer. The previous samples were subsequently reviewed and were also found to be positive.
Patient A then had a radical mastectomy and gland removal. She was given chemotherapy at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick. The consultant medical oncologist there, Prof Rajnish Gupta, raised concerns about what had happened to her and contacted the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
An investigation followed, which found if there had been a multidisciplinary team meeting between the pathologists at UCHG and staff at Barrington’s, the errors might have been caught. It also reviewed the work of the two pathologists in UCHG who had made the errors and found one of them, Dr Antoine Geagea – a locum from Finland – had an error rate five to six times the norm.
Cancer treatment at Barrington’s was suspended and subsequently ceased. The Medical Council also found Dr Geagea guilty of professional misconduct.
Patient A received an apology from UCHG and from then minister for health Mary Harney and began a compensation claim in late 2008. The State Claims Agency did not lodge its defence of the claim until April 2011. It admitted negligence and breach of duty, but denied Patient A sustained any personal injury, loss or damage as a result.
The woman is currently on the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, and has been told her long-term prognosis has been severely affected by the delays.
Yesterday, she recalled her meeting with Ms Harney in January 2008. There was sympathy from the minister, a listening ear, and even a comforting hug as she walked out the door, she said. When she was told not to worry and that everything would be taken care of, she believed it.
But nearly four years on, she has no such illusions. “I would never have gone down this road, if I knew what was going to happen,” she said. “To be in this position is just terrible.”
Every detail of her childhood medical history, the minutiae of her current life, as well as her treatment and misdiagnosis have been looked into. “They know every single thing now, everything that has absolutely nothing to do with the cancer. I have no privacy any more,” she said.
She had co-operated with Hiqa and other investigations, although she was undergoing chemotherapy at the time, and thought the claim would be straightforward after that. But then the delays began.
“I genuinely don’t know why they are doing it; they are denying everything and that is very hard to understand,” she said. “I am in limbo and I just want it to be over.”
A spokeswoman for the State Claims Agency said last night they could not comment on ongoing cases. “The life-span of a clinical negligence claim can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the case and factors that are often outside the control of both the claimant and the defendant,” the spokeswoman said.
TIMELINE: CASE HISTORY
September 2005
Patient A has a biopsy at Barrington’s hospital Limerick. It is sent to University College Hospital Galway for testing and returns negative.
June 2006
A mammogram at Barrington’s is wrongly interpreted as negative.
March 2007
A second sample is sent to UCHG; it also returns negative.
Late March 2007
Another sample is sent to Bon Secours hospital in Cork for testing, it returns positive. The previous samples are re-examined and found to be positive. Investigations follow.
December 2008
Compensation claim is lodged.
April 2011
The State Claims Agency lodges a defence.
