Lab mix-up led to wrong treatment

A WOMAN was given the wrong cancer treatment after her lab results were mixed up with another patient who had the same initials, an inquest heard.

Jean Dowd, 68, was started on a drug called afatinib but actually had a lung tumour which required chemotherapy.

Dr Amy Roy, a consultant at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, told the city’s coroner: “Death was inevitable no matter what we did but chemotherapy may have given her a longer life span.”

The coroner confirmed that Mrs Dowd, of Plympton, Devon, died of lung cancer and recorded a narrative conclusion.

Plymouth Hospitals Trust said it had put measures in place to stop future lab mix-ups.