Moore Barlow has secured a six-figure settlement for the family of a 55-year-old man who tragically passed away due to a delayed diagnosis of salivary duct cancer.
Background to the claim
Our client’s husband first visited his GP with concerns about a persistent lump in his neck. The GP did not detect the lump, did not refer him for further investigation and did not document any safety-netting advice. Over the next six months, the lump continued to grow, prompting him to return to his GP. This time, a two-week wait referral for suspected cancer was made, and he underwent ultrasound and MRI scans of his neck at an NHS Trust. The diagnosis at that time was Kuttner’s disease; a benign inflammatory condition.
It was approximately one year later that his symptoms worsened. He was admitted to hospital with severe, radiating chest and back pain, and a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic high-grade salivary duct cancer. This rare and aggressive cancer had already spread, leaving limited treatment options. He sadly passed away just one month after his diagnosis.
Independent expert evidence was obtained from a GP and a world-leading consultant oncologist specialising in head and neck cancer. Their advice confirmed there were breaches of duty by the GP at the initial consultation and by the NHS Trust in relation to the ultrasound and MRI scans.
Had these failures not occurred, our client’s husband would have been diagnosed much sooner, and with earlier treatment, the cancer would likely have been successfully cured.
Settlement
The GP fully denied liability, while the NHS Trust acknowledged that the imaging results should have prompted further investigation leading to an earlier diagnosis. However, it was disputed that an earlier diagnosis would have altered the outcome.
After an unsuccessful mediation, Court proceedings were issued. A subsequent settlement meeting was held, but the Defendants did not make any sensible offers to resolve the claim. We continued to negotiate on our client’s behalf, and managed to secure a settlement that was a significant increase on the Defendants’ initial offer.
How Moore Barlow can help
Our team of specialist medical negligence lawyers has been hand-picked for their specific skills and technical competence in the area of medical negligence claims.
Our medical negligence team includes lawyers qualified in medicine and nursing with practical experience of working in hospitals, including orthopaedic surgery, hospital medicine, anaesthetics and intensive care.
Don’t take our word for it…
I honestly think you are the only person in the entire world who understood what happened in its entirety, and that was immensely helpful during a process that felt very isolating and lonely at times. Thank you for everything. It’s hard to communicate how much I appreciate it. Please also thank Maya for me. You two have been in my life for so long. It almost feels a little weird that this has finally come to an end.
