Thanks so much for your replies to my post. I am sorry to hear all of your struggles too.
Anna, I have been thinking also about ‘no win no fee’ but I have read that there are hidden costs if you lose (there are also up front costs at the beginning for reports etc) that could rise to tens of thousands of pounds from so-called ‘disbursements’ (or something like that…) Have you been reassured that your ‘no win no fee’ really means you will absolutely have to pay nothing if you lose? Because I also read that to protect them if you do lose, lawyers need to take out after the event insurance the premiums of which you have to pay yourself and can be up to £10 000. I would really be grateful for you advice seeing as you are much further down the road than I am. I am broke so can’t afford to pay anything up front except a few hundred pounds.
I agree wholeheartedly about misdiagnosis being the thing that lingers more than the actual fact of losing one’s breast. It certainly matches and exacerbates the fear of it coming back in the other breast because one CANNOT TRUST DOCTORS ANYMORE. I feel I have to rely on myself now to make I keep alive. And that is such a responsibility. And I already feel the responsibility of having to do the dreaded monthly breast checks…what if I miss something?
To the lady who had calcifications and then found an invasive lump. It is possible that the lump did not come from the calcifications - my consultant says that a lump can come up any time without calcifications which are or can be (1 out of 3 are)a sign of DCIS and may or may not turn into invasive cancer (the higher the grade as in my case the more likely it is, hence WLE or mastectomy). I don’t know it is all very confusing.
My case is very clear cut. I should have been called back for a mammogram (I was pregnant when I went to the breast clinic) but I didn’t know that. I was obviously - seeing I was just about to give birth - just relieved that it was ‘nothing’. The guy who told me it was nothing was obviouly a student doctor - or registrar - on reflection. My ignorance and desperation to believe I could concentrate on having my baby, cost me my breast. But it was only chance that I discovered I was still having the same symptom and then my GP really was negligent telling me just to ignore it… And it was only pure luck that after TWO AND HALF YEARS my grade 3 multifocal DCIS hadn’t spread (I hope).
hello Ladies
My sis-in-law is a personl injury/medical negilgance solicitor in devon (newton abbott) and I also have contacted her re my suspicious lump seen on chest xray in 09/2007 and large lymph nodes in my armpit also in 09/2007 which were not investigated as they were looking for lung Ca not BC. Had i not been so relieved to be told it wasn’t lung ca i mite have had more sense and demanded they investigate the shadow over my left breast and and the lymph nodes in my arm pits. she cannot represent me as she is my close relative but has advised i get hold of my notes and scans for an indepent medical expert to review.
To be fair I’m not sure if I persue if it will make any difference, but i do know what you mean by a lack of trust. I did not trust my chest consultant after that( i have a chronic lung condition that was dx after 09/07) so i have changed consultant to one i love and find so fab! hence trust restored.
Remember not all medics are hopeless and infact most are fab and deal with 100 of ladies and gents very very competently every day.
Anyway - my sis - in - law suggests you check your home insurance it often has a med neg/solicitors policy that covers the first few thousand, also if your are members of a trade union they may also cover you for solicitors fees for the first few thousand. So grab your insurance policies and fone your trade union reps.
Also when looking for solicitor ask plenty of questions about their expertese, make sure they have expereince in med neg and watch out carefully for the no win no fee malarky there are often hidedn costs.
Goodluck my Bc chums xxxx Rachel xxxxx
No win/no fee DOES have a cost if you lose - disbursements, which can be up to 10 or 15 thousand depending on your case.
Sometimes even car insurance, house contents, credit card insurance MIGHT have a little clause covering you but unlikely.
HOWEVER, it is a FACT that 97% of NHS cases are settled out of court, very rarely do they go to court because it is usually very obvious that someone has been negligent and that a causal link is established and therefore the NHS legal beagles just will not take it to court - what would be the point?
If you opt for no win/no fee you can go quite far in getting advice etc. before you risk spending anything and if you have a good person then they will tell you at what point you risk incurring charges.
My advice would be to follow the NHS complaints process first and see where that goes. If no satisfactory answer then go to the PHSO and if you have a case then ring the Law Society to recommend a lawyer or find someone who will be some pro bono work perhaps.
Do not give up … or they will keep failing people!
the solicitor i am using is a friend of my partners family, and so i am told he is very trusted. So fingers crossed.
I do wish that more could be done though to bring out in the open just how many ladies (and young ladies at that) are being misdiagnosed. I was told at the time it happened only very rarely, i think anyone reading these forums can clearly see that it is not quite so rarely.
There are some very interesting comments on this thread. I have been travelling the medical negligence route for over 4 years and am well aware of some of the pitfalls. I wasn’t aware that “no win no fee” existed for medical negligence until perhaps the case reached “causation” level. Some solicitors would consider it at “causation” level because by the time you reach this level there is a good chance you would win your case. Prior to getting to that level you have to have an independent GP expert report, an independent oncologist report + pay for medical records etc. Who would be paying of this? I doubt very much if a solicitor offering a “no win no fee” service would be prepared to pay out for these reports. Although I am interested to hear otherwise.
I was also told about the legal cover on my house insurance. It is worth checking. However, my policy is with DAS and they have been very difficult. They say in the policy that they cover medical negligence but I have failed to get anywhere with it. They are now saying they do not cover cancer. I put this in the hands of my solicitor but so far to no avail. I’m not sure how much time and money I want my solicitor to spend on this. My advice here would be check it out but don’t get too hopeful.
Hi, i am from wirral, near Liverpool. At my last chemo appt i heard of another lady that was misdiagnosed by the same consultant. Its frightening just how many are. Certainly before i was misdiagnosed i had no idea just how common it is.
take care
anna
i think in terms of education the public in general and GPs dont actually know how common BC is… they say under age 50 BC is really rare but at age 40 its around 1 in 200 and at age 30 its around 1 in 2000… well i think thats pretty common… if you compare it to other things that women worry about and get screened for earlier like cervical cancer which only affects about 9 in every 100,000 women.
surely more should be done educate people that BC is not uncommon and that there should be a defined pathway for women with any form of lump bump etc to get investigated at hospital rather than being fobbed off by a gp or not been given the proper results.
its quite scary how many people seem to be misdiagnosed… i know i was examined twice within 4 weeks by the specialist who said i was fine. and even after my recall the radiographer wanted to repeat the mammo but of the wrong breast!! i obviously pointed out she was wrong.
anyway im sorry i dont have any words of wisdom but i hope you can get some resolution.
I can remember my GP saying on my first consultation that I had nothing to worry about and that BC was rare in women under age 50. I had no idea at the time that the figure was 1 in 200. I would hardly call that rare. I also didn’t know at the time that an average GP practice will only see approximately one BC case per year - as quoted to me by Macmillan and Breast Cancer Care. I thought that with over 40,000 women getting BC per year they would see a lot of BC and be very knowledgeable on the subject. This is not the case. Mine have admitted they don’t see a lot of BC - I was with a rural practice and they may not have seen any for many years. I wonder just how interested a GP practice is in investing in training when the figures are so low. I’ve asked the question about training but to date I’ve not managed to get a response except to say there are training days, workshops, seminars etc available. Apart from the in-house training days, my understanding is that it is not compulsory for GPs to attend. I question what right a GP has to refuse a concerned patient access to further investigation when they may not have seen a lot of BC and may not have taken any great interest in BC training. I myself feel I was more knowledgeable than my GP but my knowledge or awareness did not get me into the system. Better education and training would be a way to go.
Good one. This could be getting interesting as my medical negligence lawyer is based in Edinburgh. I would need to send you a private message if you are interested to know anything about her.
Interestingly, I was at a Breast Cancer Debate lead by Rhona Branklin in Scottish Parliament yesterday. You weren’t by any chance there?
Do you have a profile? Sorry, I’m not very computer literate and I fail to see profiles most of the time.
Jeannie,
I don’t have a profile but please do private message me if you can (I don’t know how - computer illiterate - or tell me what to do so you can pm me!) I would be very interested to hear your story. You say you’ve been in the process for 4 years which is about the same time as my misdiagnosis (about 4 and half years now - diagnosed correctly Nov 2007). I wonder if it was the same guy involved?
L x
I’ve only sent a pm on the old site. Perhaps someone with much more computer knowledge will tell me how I go about it. I would also want to have a trial run as I will be sending you confidential information.
Look forward to hearing for someone who knows how to pm.
I am in the process of sueing for misdiagnosis. I attended the breast clinic in 2010 with a 1cm breast lump to be told it wasn’t breast cancer and was in the wrong place. No scans or tests were done.
i went back in Feb 2011 with the same lump, now almost 5cm, saw a different consultant who scanned and biopsied the lump, confirming it was indeed breast cancer (within half an hour). I underwent a left mastectomy, chemo and radio and was figments all clear November 2011.
July 2012 I was diagnosed with metastatic BC with spread to other lymph nodes, bone, liver and lung. I am now 34 and do not know how long I have. I have had hormone therapy but this was unsuccessful in controlling the spread and am now on week 12 of weekly taxol which appears to be slowing the growth down.
had my diagnosis been made the first time it would not off progressed to the stage which it has and my 4 year old son would have his mummy for longer. The consultant is no longer practising for the NHS but this won’t provide my son with the future that I would provide, therefore, I am sueing to ensure his financial security in the future.
I am also Wirral based like Anna.
Hi
So sorry to hear your story, you are so young. This is simply not acceptable, after all we know our own bodies and we put all our trust in the professionals. I too was mis diagnosed TWICE by my breast unit. And finally diagnosed a whole year later. This resulted in a inoperable tumour having to have 8 chemos first before modified radical mastectomy. It was also in 7 lymph nodes. I am so angry as I felt like an idiot repeatedly asking to be seen but having an 8 year old I knew I had to, to be around for him. The same consultant told me TWICE I had nothing to worry about. Fortunately I ignored him.
Xx
This is quite amazing! I hardly ever come onto this site these days although I still have it listed in my favourites. I accidently pressed it tonight by mistake and here I am seeing a thread I answered in 2009. I am actively trying to sue my GP with regards to my breast cancer misdiagnosis. I had consulted my GP on three occasions over a four year period with swelling, thickening and lumps under my right armpit. She told me my symptoms were the remains of a viral infection. Despite armpit lumps being mentioned in every breast cancer awareness leaflet it was not mentioned in the guidelines (SIGN in Scotland) at the time of my misdiagnosis. For most this is hard to believe. I had asked to be sent for a mammogram on each of these visits - no record of me asking for a mammogram in any of my clinical records which is not helpful to my case. She refused on the grounds that I had nothing to worry about and as I was under the age of 50 I was not eligible for the screening programme. I waited and put myself into the system just after my 50th birthday. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss the progression of my case on such an open site but would be happy to pm anyone who would be interested to know how I have progressed. It is a very difficult and costly thing to do. I believe there are medicial negligence solicitors operating on a “no win, no fee” basis in England but I have failed to get one to operate on this basis in Scotland. It was never my intention to take my case to law but the process of the NHS Complaints procedure, the Ombudsman and the GMC was a complete waste of time and energy for me. No record is kept of misdiagnosed cases and unless we make it known to the NHS these accidents will continue to happen. Anyone who has not been given the best possible care should write to their Primary Care Trust.
Sending you all my best wishes. I would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who knew me way back in 2006.
Love
Jeannie
Hi
I tried a criminal negligence claim back in in 2008, after I was diagnosed. I had been fobbed off by 1 surgeon for 3years and it was only moving house that saved me. However when it came to court I was unsuccessful as it was deemed I had a 50%+ chance of survining 10yrs!!! I am only 49 now! I would advice anyone to think very carefully before taking action, it exhausted both me and my husband and there was so much anger it was unhealthy! Please feel free to message me;-) Bethy x
Dear Bethy
I responded to your posting and lost it all. Grrrr…
I can relate to what you say about the exhaustion and the anger. I suffer from this also. I would be interested to know how you managed to reach Court without first knowing your percentage of survival. I have had to get an independent Clinical Oncologist report in order to establish my percentage - without this I would not be able to proceed on medical negligence grounds. My solicitor calls it “causation”. She tells me without causation you cannot proceed with an medical negligence case. I would be interested to know what others have to say.
I will pm you over the next week.
Keep happy and healthy.
Jeannie