‘There are not enough judges to hear CervicalCheck cases,’ court warns
THERE are not enough judges to hear the cases of women suing over the alleged mis- reading of their CervicalCheck smear slides, a senior High Court judge warned yesterday.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross, who is hearing evidence on the eighth day of the action by Ruth Morrissey, who is terminally ill with cervical cancer, said he may be faced with having to hear two actions in one day as the cases mount up.
“I can’t see a way around it,” the judge said and he added if cases aren’t settled, the court will have to do something.
Meanwhile, CervicalCheck programme manager John Gleeson told the High Court open disclosure requires an adverse event and the upgrading of the results of a woman’s smear slides from negative was not considered an adverse incident.
Asked if the Vicky Phelan case never happened when would Ms Morrissey have found out about the audit reviews on her smear slides, Mr Gleeson said “if she had chosen to ask us”.
Mr Justice Cross’s comments
came after he was told another case linked to the alleged misinterpretation of cervical smears taken under the CervicalCheck programme is due to start at the end of this month, when the Ruth Morrissey case is still going on, with yet another case due to begin in March.
Limerick woman Ms Morrissey has sued the HSE and two US laboratories over the alleged misreading of her cervical smear slides in 2009 and 2012.
Last November, Mr Justice Cross warned that people who have sued over alleged delays in cancer diagnosis and alleged misdiagnosis may have passed away before their cases are heard.
He called for more judges to be appointed to the High Court to deal with the personal injuries list, which has been swamped with complex cases including those that are related to the CervicalCheck controversy.
In court yesterday, Mr Justice Cross said the situation has not improved and it does not look likely it will.
The court has already heard the HSE admitted it owed a duty of care to Ms Morrissey but not to her husband. The laboratories deny all claims. The case continues.