Justice for a Family After Devastating Misdiagnosis of Cancer and Subsequent Missed Diagnosis

In 2004, our client’s husband was told he had small cell carcinoma, an aggressive type of lung cancer with a very poor prognosis. Until that point, he had been fit and well and therefore was deemed a suitable candidate to undergo intense treatment to prolong his life. His treatment included chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy to his brain and chest.

What the couple did not know at the time was that he had been misdiagnosed. His actual condition was non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a different form of cancer which, with treatment, was survivable.

Treatment for this condition at the time involved chemotherapy and sometimes, low dose radiotherapy to the chest. Had the client’s husband received the correct diagnosis, he would not have received any radiotherapy to his brain and the radiotherapy to his chest would have been applied at a much lower dose, if at all. He would have made a full recovery and been able to carry on with his life as normal.

The consequences of his misdiagnosis were life-changing to him and his family. Although the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was cured, the unnecessarily high dose of chest radiotherapy, coupled with the avoidable brain radiotherapy, left him with long-term health problems that carried their own complications, including lung scarring, memory loss, personality change and heart disease following weight gain secondary to steroids prescribed to treat chronic headaches. He was never able to return to work and over time, his health deteriorated so much that his wife also had to give up her job to become his full-time carer.

In 2019, he sadly passed away from compilations of metastatic cancer. At that time, the Defendant identified the misdiagnosis made in 2004, but could not identify the source of the metastatic cancer that had caused his death and Lanyon Bowdler were instructed by his widow to investigate.

After his death, further failures in his treatment came to light. Medical records showed that an adrenal mass, identified back in 2004, had not been properly monitored during subsequent follow ups. Over the years, investigations had showed this mass had grown but no action was taken. The mass eventually became cancerous and without treatment had spread throughout his body. Experts concluded that if this tumour had been treated in time, he would have avoided the development of, and spread of, cancer and its associated complications altogether and he would have had a normal life expectancy.

The medical issues arising in this case were very complex and the Defendant resisted many of the allegations of substandard care.

The case involved years of investigation, expert evidence, and negotiations that culminated in court proceedings being issued after the Defendant refused to offer a settlement of more than £365,000 in response to the proper valuation of the claim at £1.2million.

Despite these challenges, we were able to secure admissions relating to the original misdiagnosis and eventually, achieved a settlement for our client out of court.

Although the legal process was lengthy, and at times frustrating, given the Defendant’s poor conduct, our client was relieved to finally reach a resolution in 2025 that gave her financial security and closure to enable her move forward at last.