Diagnosis blunder left me fighting for my life
Gravely ill mum sues for cancer test error
A WOMAN who said she was given the incorrect “normal” diagnosis for a breast cancer gene and is now seriously ill with ovarian cancer is suing heath bosses.
The 52-year-old found out in August she had late-stage ovarian cancer and her prognosis is poor.
The High Court was told after recovering from breast cancer in 2004, she learned members of her family had a significant history of the disease and she had a genetic test in 2009 for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation gene.
It’s claimed the lab showed a pathogenic change of the BRCA1 gene, but it is alleged in a letter sent to the woman and her doctor on January 27, 2010, it was incorrectly stated the breast cancer gene was normal.
The woman, whose youngest child is aged 10, claimed she has suffered a loss of the opportunity to take medical advice to mitigate her risk of the disease.
She has further claimed if she had been made aware of the mutation, in January 2010 she would have taken all and any steps to eliminate the risks of cancer. She is suing Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, which provides genetic testing.
Her counsel Richard Kean told the court liability has been admitted by the Hospital but causation was still an issue.
After he said the trial will take four or five days, Mr Justice Kevin Cross set May 29 for the case. It is claimed Our Lady’s had a duty of care to Our Lady’s in Crumlin her and in particular in relation to the reporting, diagnosing and communicating the November 2009 finding of the mutated and pathogenic change.
She also contends the result she received in 2010 from her genetic test was miscommunication and misdiagnosed.
In February 2004 the woman was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and made a full recovery.
Around 2007/2008 she became aware a member of her family’s history of breast cancer and it was decided she should be referred to Our Lady’s for Medical Genetic Testing to see if she had the BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer-linked gene.
The woman had the genetic test and it was sent to a laboratory in Birmingham.
It is claimed the lab report came back with a result which it said was consistent with the clinical diagnosis of familial breast and/or ovarian cancer.
In May the woman experienced a deterioration in her health, was losing weight and had a loss of appetite.
On the August Bank Holiday, she had pain in her left side and a CT scan showed up a 5cm ovarian tumour.