Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims Solicitors

Whether a misdiagnosis is negligent will depend on the circumstances surrounding what happened. It could be that you experienced a breach of duty by your GP or your medical specialist. Perhaps signs and symptoms were dismissed and there was a failure to take further action, or a radiologist misinterpreted a scan and wrongly reported information back to a healthcare professional.

A misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis may not be grounds for a cancer negligence claim if there was reasonable cause to pursue other diagnoses prior to this. This could be due to the symptoms being more indicative of another condition, or there being a need to rule out conditions that presented a more urgent concern to a patient’s health.

• The GP or hospital fails to acknowledge potential signs of cancer
• There was a failure to order the appropriate diagnostic tests or refer to a specialist
• Mistakes were made when interpreting test results
• Test results were delayed and a lack of follow-up in a timely manner
• The stage or type of cancer was misdiagnosed and the cancer treatment received was ineffective
• A mistake was made during the administration of treatment

There may also be delays to diagnosis due to a lack of funding available for procedures related to an alternative condition. Mrs M’s story explains this situation in more detail.

While we are unable to provide a definitive timeline on a case, as each one is individual, we would typically expect a misdiagnosis claim to take between two and five years to reach final settlement. This depends on the defendants’ stance and the length of time it takes to receive an accurate prognosis from medical professionals.

To ensure your medical negligence claim is valid and that you receive the best outcome possible, your solicitors must take the appropriate time to complete investigations. Any promise of a quick result is usually unfounded and quite likely to be untrue.

How long do I have to claim?

As is the case for all medical negligence claims, there is a general time limit of three years from when the injury is realised for someone to make a misdiagnosis claim. However, there are exceptions to this rule which include:

Claimants under the age of 18 who have until their 21st birthday to make a claim

If the claimant is mentally incapacitated at the time of the negligence occurring or as a result of the negligence, there is no limit on when they can make a claim

If the claimant passes away within the three-year time period for the claim to be brought, the three-year limit begins anew at the date of their death

Where a person dies as a result of their treatment, dependents who are under 18 at the time of that death have until 3 years after their 18th birthday to bring a claim

As is the case for all medical negligence claims, there is a general time limit of three years from when the injury is realised for someone to make a misdiagnosis claim. However, there are exceptions to this rule which include:

Claimants under the age of 18 who have until their 21st birthday to make a claim

If the claimant is mentally incapacitated at the time of the negligence occurring or as a result of the negligence, there is no limit on when they can make a claim

If the claimant passes away within the three-year time period for the claim to be brought, the three-year limit begins anew at the date of their death

Where a person dies as a result of their treatment, dependents who are under 18 at the time of that death have until 3 years after their 18th birthday to bring a claim

If you would like to know whether you have a cancer compensation claim due to delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, the first step is to get in touch with our specialist medical negligence solicitors. We have a range of ways for you to get in touch:

• Use the ‘Do I have a medical negligence claim?’ to submit your details and an expert member of our team will be in touch
• Choose a time and request a callback
• Speak to us today to find out more about how we can help 0808 250 1160

The first conversation we have will be exploratory. One of our clinical negligence team will take as many details as they can, ready to discuss with a solicitor. We will then inform you whether we think you have a case. We will never accept a case if we do not believe we will be able to make a successful claim.