Fatal delay in diagnosing ovarian cancer

We have recently settled a case in which the NHS Litigation Authority accepted that our client had a high prospect of being cured had she been treated properly. Instead, at the age of 42, she tragically died when a malignant ovarian cyst was not diagnosed for over eight months.

She had repeatedly attended her GP who had properly referred her to the local hospital for investigation. She was first diagnosed at the hospital with a urinary infection and given antibiotics.

The cyst was later revealed with ultrasound, but her consultant concluded it was not causing any symptoms so there was no urgency to remove it, notwithstanding a later request from the GP to bring forward that surgery. Further ultrasound showed the cyst had grown, but these results were filed without the consultant seeing them.

By the time the malignancy was finally realised and the cyst removed, the cancer had spread and despite major surgery and five courses of chemotherapy, our client tragically died in 2009.

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