Claiming Compensation for Failure to diagnose cancer / misdiagnosis of cancer
Cancer services are vastly improved across Britain compared with 20 years ago, but occasionally misdiagnosis of cancer does happen. If you have suffered as a result of misdiagnosis of cancer, or failure to diagnose cancer, and someone has been negligent, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
- Breast cancer compensation claims
- Colon and bowel cancer compensation claims
- Skin cancer compensation claims
- Cervical cancer compensation claims
- Prostate cancer compensation claims
- Lung cancer compensation claims
- Leukaemia compensation claims
- Lymphoma compensation claims
Cancer is one of the most common serious illnesses in the UK with statistics showing that one in three of us will develop some form of it during our lifetime.
The problem can be where you suffer 
from cancer but you are given a negative result following tests, or the medical team treating you fails to make a diagnosis at all. In this scenario, failure to diagnose can mean that the cancer is allowed to grow untreated. The opportunity to treat the cancer can be lost completely, leading to additional pain and suffering and possibly to a reduced life expectancy or death.
Medical negligence claims involving cancer often involve one of the following factors:
- Failure to diagnose – this can be due to your doctor either missing or misinterpreting your symptoms, or misinterpreting test results
- Delay in diagnosis – this can be caused by delayed referrals to specialists, delays in carrying out a biopsy or failure to act quickly enough in reaction to test results, as well as many other factors
- Misdiagnosis – some patients are diagnosed as having cancer when they do not. This can lead to them having to endure difficult and painful treatments such as chemotherapy unnecessarily
A specialist solicitor can deal with medical negligence compensation claims for any type of cancer where your health care provider has been negligent.
How much can I claim?
A number of factors will determine the value of your settlement:
- The type of injury and how severe the injury is
- Did you recover fully from the injury or do you have ongoing problems
- What are the long term effects on your health
- Did the injury cause you other losses such as loss of earnings
What can I claim compensation for?
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of earnings
- The loss of comfort/convenience/quality of life caused by your injury
- Medical care costs
- Costs involved in adapting your home to meet your new requirements as a result of your injury
- Other out of pocket expenses incurred whilst receiving medical treatment, such as travel expenses
Making a claim for compensation
A specialist medical negligence solicitor can assess your case and inform you about:
- How strong your case is
- The likelyhood of making a successful claim
- The amount of compensation you may receive if your claim is successful
- Pursue a claim on your behalf