£500k compensation for 23 year old woman left infertile after two smear tests fail to spot cancer
Misdiagnosis
A woman was left infertile after two cervical smear tests were misdiagnosed in 2001 when she was 23.
After suffering problems through her pregnancy in 2003 she was eventually diagnosed with cervical cancer the following year - more than two years after her smear tests.
She received a settlement of more than £500k from the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which said it deeply regretted the errors in reporting the tests in 2001, and that changes had been made to its systems.
Samantha Burn went for a routine smear test in October 2001 when she was 23, then another in November that year after the first was found to be inadequate, but nothing abnormal was found. In April 2003 she found she was pregnant with her first child, but during her pregnancy suffered pain and repeatedly passed blood clots. She gave birth to her daughter in December 2003 but continued to suffer problems.
Finally in March 2004 her GP referred her to a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Peterborough Hospital NHS Trust, when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Since then, she has undergone radical radiotherapy and chemotherapy and is now on long-term HRT. She has had problems with radiation effects to her hips and her bowel and bladder, and suffers from abdominal pain and discomfort.
She had planned to return to work after the birth of her baby, but since her diagnosis could not and is unlikely to be able to work again. If the cervical smears in 2001 had been reported correctly, cancer would have been diagnosed by December 2001.
Susan Brown a medical negligence lawyer from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner said: "In this tragic example of medical negligence, Mrs Burn wasn't advised that she had cervical cancer for 3 years. As a result of the delay she had to undergo far more aggressive treatment and has been left infertile with mobility problems and constant pain. Our medical negligence lawyers at Boyes Turner act for a number of young women where there has been a delay in diagnosis of cervical cancer resulting in them requiring radical surgery and/or chemoradiotherapy treatment which would not otherwise have been required. Often as a result of this more aggressive treatment the women suffer side effects and are left with serious ongoing medical problems, such as radiation enteritis and chronic pain. Sadly sometimes the delay has resulted in an otherwise avoidable death."
Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.
SEE ALSO
Our people
Our cases
Making a claim
