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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Suing the hospital for telling me I had cancer?

426 replies

MoralityPondering · 16/06/2021 12:58

Can I? Should I? Family and friends are telling me to. I was diagnosed 2 months ago at a private hospital after MRI & biopsy. 3 surgeries later and now last week I've been told it isn't cancer at all. They had it looked at 3 times to decide it wasn't cancer so it doesn't seem to be a straight forward decision. I'm not sure it's the right thing to do anyway. I just feel how I did when I was diagnosed - like my life has been ripped apart again.

OP posts:
partyatthepalace · 16/06/2021 13:26

Get a full investigation done, then decide re legal action.

Lucyh179 · 16/06/2021 13:26

PS I've just seen this wasn't the NHS but my advice is the same x

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 16/06/2021 13:27

Yes full surgeries that have left me with scars and lifetime risks of further complications. It is a good thing. I know it is but I just feel lost

That's awful, I'm so sorry x

TheYearOfSmallThings · 16/06/2021 13:28

It genuinely is not possible to advise you without knowing the full details (I do not suggest you post them here). There may have been avoidable medical errors or there may not.

I agree with those suggesting a review of care followed by a meeting to discuss the findings with you. This would involve your consultant and the medical director. After this you will be in a better position to understand what happened and seek legal advice.

stackemhigh · 16/06/2021 13:28

I would think at the moment what with the pandemic and the struggles for the nhs and how fabulously they have been doing, it seems trying to get money out of them seems a bit wrong and I'm not sure I could advocate this.

@Lucyh179 none of that is OP’s problem.

I suspect people would be singing a very different tune if this happened to them.

Excilente · 16/06/2021 13:28

wow.. if you've ended up with a mastectomy that you didnt need, then yes, you need to at LEAST make sure there is an investigation to find out how they made that mistake of diagnosing the mass as cancer if it wasn't.

Then, depending on the answers/outcome, talk to a lawyer, especially if it was private practice and not NHS

Original poster
MoralityPondering · 16/06/2021 13:30

I still can't lift my arm above my head. I have cording. I only have 1 breast. I have scars. And it was worth it when I was doing it to treat cancer & stay alive for my DC. Now I feel like I've been mutilated for nothing. I'm not angry so suing probably isn't right but I'm devastated at what this has taken from me. I'm 35 so have many years left to live like this.

OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 16/06/2021 13:30

Oh the thought that you had an unnecessary mastectomy. Yes, in that case I would sue.

Original poster
MoralityPondering · 16/06/2021 13:31

And I know I should just be grateful that I don't have cancer anymore before anyone says it.

OP posts:
TheYearOfSmallThings · 16/06/2021 13:32

I forgot to say you may find it helpful to contact AvMA (Action versus Medical Accidents), a charity which gives free advice to patients who believe they have been harmed by medical treatment.

RonniePickering · 16/06/2021 13:32

Oh wow OP Sad

I probably would sue then in those circumstances. How awful for you Flowers

Lucyh179 · 16/06/2021 13:34

@stackemhigh

I would think at the moment what with the pandemic and the struggles for the nhs and how fabulously they have been doing, it seems trying to get money out of them seems a bit wrong and I'm not sure I could advocate this.

@Lucyh179 none of that is OP’s problem.

I suspect people would be singing a very different tune if this happened to them.

Yes, I know but that also refers to the NHS which I corrected. But even so we live in a blame culture and if you like to do that it's your prerogative but I would ask what is it to achieve.

Like I said, and I'm sorry if it wasn't clear to you, I said I would start the investigative procedure and see what it kicks up and go from there. Private hospitals will be even more protected than the NHS so it will be tough, but if the OP feels strongly about it then she should start an investigation and go from there.

Geamhradh · 16/06/2021 13:34

I opened this to say no
Now I'm going to say name and Shane and sue the arses off each one of them Flowers

Original poster
MoralityPondering · 16/06/2021 13:35

I also don't know how a benign breast mass could cause a hormone positive biopsy result and no one seems willing to tell me either. Sad

OP posts:
Ostara212 · 16/06/2021 13:35

OP I am really sorry to hear this

I nearly had an unnecessary biopsy and that was stressful. Lucky someone on the team put a stop to it.

Have read the Patient Paradox by Dr Margaret McCartney? The first chapter would have spared me, and you. I was effectively told I had cancer for two months while they scanned every organ looking for it.

I was under the impression many women had suffered unnecessary treatment for breast cancer, I remember hearing it in MSM.

I completely get it if you want to sue.

Lucyh179 · 16/06/2021 13:35

@MoralityPondering

I still can't lift my arm above my head. I have cording. I only have 1 breast. I have scars. And it was worth it when I was doing it to treat cancer & stay alive for my DC. Now I feel like I've been mutilated for nothing. I'm not angry so suing probably isn't right but I'm devastated at what this has taken from me. I'm 35 so have many years left to live like this.
Wow! I didn't realise this. Good on you for being so calm and rational about it all.

I would get it all investigated.

Ostara212 · 16/06/2021 13:36

@MoralityPondering

I also don't know how a benign breast mass could cause a hormone positive biopsy result and no one seems willing to tell me either. Sad
X post

Could it be a change in their parameters of measurement?

AvidNameChanger · 16/06/2021 13:41

@MoralityPondering

One of the surgeries was emergency surgery because of complications caused by the first one. I had to have a blood transfusion and could have died. The surgery was to remove the cancer. Except I didn't need it removing because it never was cancer.
I can understand why you’re feeling this way. You’ve emotionally adjusted to what could happen and now to find out that it’s not happening, and having to go through all those invasive procedures for no reason, can be quite deflating. And all the while you’re supposed to feel happy that at least you are alive and well, whilst the scars what was gone still remains Flowers But hopefully one day, you’ll be able to see it positively, as something that you were willing to do to fight to live.

I think you need emotional support and I do wish you can have a gathering with your family and friends to celebrate so you’re reframing the situation so you’re more in control. Anyone who has been told that it might have been cancer, you can just send a mass message saying that thankfully it wasn’t the case after x amount of doctors and xyz amount of procedures, it’s been determined that it was a complicated benign mass. Simple and to the point. You don’t owe anyone any explanations and at least then you won’t have to feel that you now have to say you actually don’t have cancer etc.

Nuffaluff · 16/06/2021 13:42

It could also be because they mixed up the test results with someone else’s and someone might be trying to cover it up.

I’m not saying that’s what it is, but it could be.

Greybeardy · 16/06/2021 13:42

Was it a phyllodes tumour by any chance?

justanotherneighinparadise · 16/06/2021 13:44

This happened to my friend. Ended up with her having a full hysterectomy and then they decided it wasn’t cancer after all! Terrible.

MitheringSunday · 16/06/2021 13:44

OP, you have been through something very, very difficult. I absolutely think a thorough debrief and possibly an apology is in order. But (from my own recent experience) there isn't always a clear dividing line cancer/not cancer, and sometimes erring on the side of caution seems the sensible thing to do. How would you feel about the surgery that went wrong if you had indeed been suffering from a malignancy?

Take care of yourself and perhaps look into counselling.

JustcameoutGC · 16/06/2021 13:44

So sorry you are going through this. Mastectomy is a major, life altering operation.
Did you have all investigations and treatment at the private hospital? I would ask if you were discussed at an MDT meeting. I wonder if private hospitals have enough patients to have them. They are a crucial point in getting all the input needed to decide a treatment pathway.

Original poster
MoralityPondering · 16/06/2021 13:47

Your text is good except people have been told I do have cancer not might have it as that's what I was told. As far as I was concerned I was waiting to find out if I need chemo or "just" hormone therapy and radiation.

OP posts:
MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 16/06/2021 13:48

@MoralityPondering

I was diagnosed with ER/PR positive grade 2 breast cancer after biopsy, mammogram and Contrast MRI. I had a mastectomy with reconstruction and node clearance. After Path report last week it's not cancer. It's a complicated benign mass.
So sorry to hear that this has happened, and I completely understand why you are traumatised. Anyone on here who tells you you should feel lucky after having lost a breast unnecessarily is a twunt.

Whether you can sue the hospital depends on the details of the circumstances. If the hospital's belief that you had cancer was objectively reasonable, and the treatment that they gave you on the basis of that belief was reasonable, they will not have been negligent. But that's not something anyone on this thread is going to be able to tell you - it will need an expert opinion from a breast surgeon and pathologist who have reviewed your records.

Regardless of whether you sue, though, you absolutely need to understand what happened and why. Have you approached the hospital's complaints manager yet? That would be my first step.