State agency ‘had no interest’ in resolving dying woman’s case

‘Only interested after media focus’ ‘Engaged in sham mediation’

THE solicitor for a woman who has been told her cancer is terminal has slammed the State Claims Agency (SCA) for engaging in ‘sham mediation’ with his client.

Mother-of-one Ruth Morrissey, 37, would have had a less than one per cent chance of developing invasive cancer had pre-cancerous changes in her cervix been correctly reported and treated in 2009.

A review of her two smear tests was conducted by the laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Medlab Pathology following her diagnosis of cancer in 2014, and the court has heard that it was discovered then that the smears were incorrectly analysed as being negative.

Her solicitor Cian O’Carroll yesterday hit out at a statement released by the SCA in which they said that they had hoped to resolve the issue through mediation.

Mr O’Carroll said that the statement gave the impression of ‘a frustrated but benign defendant, seeking to resolve this case without a trial’.

He said that his clients believed that before the media picked up their story, the State showed ‘no interest whatsoever’ in coming to an agreement through discussion. ‘Ruth and Paul Morrissey have said this evening how they feel deeply hurt that the State and its claims agency have sought to misrepresent the sham mediation that took place last week in a poorly veiled attempt to spare them the criticism that is rightly theirs for their conduct of this case. Ruth and Paul believe that the State showed no interest whatsoever in resolving their case by mediation prior to the media focus on their ordeal in court this week’, Mr O’Carroll said in a statement last night.

The Tipperary-based solicitor said that the State had refused to meet the couple for discussion on ‘several dates’ in the weeks leading up to their court case, adding that they only met when the judge invited them to do so.

He said that during the meeting in question, the SCA left a ‘gravely ill’ woman to ‘wait around’ for hours of talks after which ‘not a single cent was offered’ and said that the couple had believed the meeting to be confidential.

He criticised the SCA for failing to inform the couple of the statement being released and accused them of aiming to give the public an alternative view of their role in ‘this shameful case’.

‘If the State wish to conduct a negotiation, they know well how to make such an approach.’

He added such a response should be made through a legal team and not through a statement which he said aimed to cover ‘the exposed flank of Government’ embarrassed by the treatment of his client.

He also hit out at Minister for Health Simon Harris and Taoieach Leo Varadkar for assuring the public that other women affected by the cervical scandal would not be ‘dragged through the courts’.

He said: ‘If the State wish to conduct a negotiation, they know well how to make such an approach – it is one made through the respective legal teams for the parties – not through a media release clearly aimed at offering cover to the exposed flank of Government, embarrassed by the obvious conflict between how Ruth and Paul have been treated this week and the remarks of Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris who gave such clear and public assurances just ten weeks ago that no other woman would be dragged through the courts as Vicky Phelan had been as a result of the CervicalCheck scandal.’

In the statement, the SCA said that it remained committed to resolving all issues surrounding cervical cancer errors in diagnosis in a sensitive manner alongside the laboratories involved.

They said that they hoped to use mediation as opposed to court hearings and added that they placed ‘a high priority’ on treating those who made such claims with ‘dignity and compassion’.

‘An attempt earlier this week to resolve this case through mediation was unsuccessful. The SCA seeks to resolve claims through mediation wherever possible’, they said.The SCA added that they had admitted liability in relation to not disclosing the audit relating to Ms Morrissey’s smear tests and added no lab had done so in relation to the tests they assessed.The agency said they had written to the labs to encourage them to join them in talks with Ms Morrissey’s legal team.

This latest controversy follows the heavily criticised process by which cancer sufferer Vicky Phelan was forced to the attend court before a settlement was reached in her case.

A Government spokesman said that they did not want any woman to have to go to court and that mediation is offered in all cases.

He added that although mediation may not succeed initially, it always remained an option so that a settlement can be reached in ‘a sensitive way’ but added that everyone has a right to go to court.