Genetic test ‘could have prevented terminal ovary cancer’
Woman told she has two years to live settles case with HSE for €2m
A MOTHER’S terminal ovarian cancer could have been prevented if she had been promptly referred for genetic testing, the High Court has heard.
The woman, who cannot be named by order of the court, has been told she has just two years to live.
Judge Paul Butler yesterday approved a settlement against the HSE for €2million, along with a letter from the HSE expressing ‘regret’.
The woman was prompted to launch her action after being inspired by Vicky Phelan, the woman whose case uncovered the Cervical-Check scandal.
Her counsel Patrick Treacy SC said his 45-year-old client had a genetic mutation which meant she had a 60% chance of developing ovarian cancer over her lifetime. Her mother had died from the disease at the age of 48, her aunt had died and her niece had been diagnosed with it, Mr Treacy said.
Despite this, he said, the woman was not properly assessed in August 2010, when she presented at University Hospital, Limerick, for assessment of her risk of developing ovarian cancer.
She had been referred by her GP ‘by reason of her own concerns that she was a great risk of developing ovarian cancer’, Mr Treacy said.
As a result of her not being properly assessed, the court heard, the woman was not referred for genetic testing.
He said such a test would have led to her having preventative treatment ‘to reduce, and effectively eradicate the prospect of her developing ovarian cancer’.
‘Because if she had been assessed as having this gene at the right time, she could have had’ her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, he explained.
He said it would have been the evidence of British gynaecological cancer expert Dr John Shepherd that if she had had the genetic screening before 2015, she would not have developed the fatal cancer.
The woman claimed that due to the failure to properly assess her, and identify the gene, the cancer was allowed to develop and spread, unmonitored and untreated, until she was diagnosed with stage-three highgrade, serious ovarian cancer in February 2017. It was diagnosed after she underwent a CT and MRI scan, which found a 5cm mass in her uterus. A laparotomy was carried out at University Hospital Limerick which showed an abnormal uterus and ovarian tumours, Mr Treacy said.
Because the findings were so aggressive, she underwent a total hysterectomy and the removal of her ovaries, fallopian tubes and some abdominal tissue, he said. She has also had chemotherapy.
The cancer was now terminal, he confirmed.
The woman claimed that the HSE had failed to follow the National Centre for Medical Genetics referral criteria for individuals with a family history of cancer. It was not until September 2017 that genetic analysis was carried out and she was found to have the gene mutation, the court heard.
Mr Treacy said it was a complex case, and another feature was that the woman had been diagnosed as having abnormal, pre-cancerous changes in her cervix at the University Maternity Hospital in Limerick in 2015. Cancer was also found on the surface of her cervix following the medical investigations carried out in February 2017. No allegations of negligence were made regarding this.
Mr Treacy SC told Judge Butler that his client’s case had been settled without any admission of liability from the HSE.
But while asking the judge to approve the settlement, he said he was confident that his client would have won her case had it gone to a full hearing. ‘Thankfully the case has settled by means of mediation,’ he added.
The settlement included general damages, loss of earnings, and damages to cover the woman’s future care and accommodation needs.
A portion was also set aside specifically for the woman’s daughter. Speaking outside court, her solicitor Cian O’Carroll, who also represented Ms Phelan in her €2.5million settlement against the HSE, said his client had not sought legal advice until hearing of Ms Phelan’s settlement following her cervical cancer misdiagnosis.
He said of his latest client: ‘She was suspicious she had been let down. She felt empowered after seeing Vicky Phelan.’ He added: ‘These cases in the court are not saving women’s lives, but they are changing people’s lives.’
‘Empowered by Vicky Phelan’
‘Failed to follow referral criteria’