Suing the hospital for telling me I had cancer?

[MoralityPondering]

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.

You definitely need to talk this through with them for your own understanding and to move forward.
Is it possible it was pre cancerous? My mother in law has a lump removed (different place) and surgical complications which have a lasting effect.
In her case they were satisfied it wasn't cancerous but we're clear that if left untreated, there was a high likelihood it would become so - and because of where it was removal at that point was considerably worse.
I think you need to better understand what risk, if any this may have posed to you as a 'caught it early' mentality may be easier to cope with and explain to others.
Just because you don't have cancer you have still had an emotional rollercoaster. Did you watch the final series of Cold Feet? It's one of the best I've seen at addressing the issues around being better as well as being ill so worth a watch as you process

Sorry that was to @AvidNameChanger

@Greybeardy no. Just a complicated fibrodenema. I have almost certainly spelt that wrong so I hope you know what I mean.

Im sorry to hear if your experience, I hope you can find some peace. I think my response would depend on if you feel that unnecessary treatment was done in order to profit, or if the presentation of your symptoms was such that the doctor was reasonable to treat as cancer and it is only in hindsight that it is clear that it is not. At the risk of sending you down a Google spiral, there was a consultant (Ian Paterson) who did the former and was sent to prison. Following this there was a report into controls that the private medical industry should have to avoid repeat. If this was funded via private medical insurance it might be worth speaking to your insurer to ask them their view. I definitely think a debrief would help. Sending

I think you need a full understanding of how and why this happened, if the hospital cooperate and offer this upfront and offer counselling etc then I think this would be more helpful to you than suing? However it might take for you to sue in order to get the answers you need. Sorry for what you've been through x

It is possible that you might be able to bring a claim (depending on all the circumstances), but from your comments I’m not sure that it would have the benefit your friends/family seem to think - money is nice but won’t actually solve the physical side effects you have been left with. As others have said above, a debrief with the hospital and possibly counselling (which you could see if the hospital would provide/pay for) sounds like it would do much more for your mental health and well-being. And there is no urgency to commence a claim (broad rule is that you have three years from the date you find out you did not in fact have cancer), so I wouldn’t make it a priority in your thoughts at the moment. Best of luck.

@MoralityPondering

I think I need a debrief thank you to those who suggested it. I also will look into counselling. There must be something wrong with me. I know it's good news but I'm not happy about it. Maybe I'm still in shock

There is nothing “wrong” with you. I don’t think it’s at all surprising you feel the way you do, with trauma piled upon trauma.

Yes, it’s great you don’t have cancer and will not need chemotherapy, but it’s unreasonable of anyone to expect you to brush this off.

At this stage no-one knows whether there has been a terrible error, or whether the tumour being benign is a “medical miracle” that took everyone by complete surprise. If the former then legal action may be a reasonable recourse, but even if the latter you do need to get to the bottom of this to be able to heal.

I’d suggest requesting a debrief and trauma counselling and starting from there. If you feel like you’re being fobbed off, write all your questions down and take a sympathetic friend with you.

I would get advice from a clinical negligence solicitor.

We won't be able to tell you here whether it is or is not negligence, but it's worth looking into given you've had pretty serious surgery.

@Ishoos totally unhelpful - there is absolutely nothing to suggest that what OP has been through is anything like Patterson. Sounds more like very thorough treatment, and a cautious approach, albeit one that turned out to have been the wrong decision.

Okay so you've had extensive surgery, and I can see why your upset Op

I definitely think you need to talk it through with the team. Write down everything you want to ask, everything you need to know. What the treatment would have likely been had they known the diagnosis at the start. Give yourself some time beforehand to think of all the things that you need to know. Make sure you talk to the consultant

It is a very difficult situation as the surgical team acted with the knowledge they had. They haven't skipped any steps, they've done all the appropriate investigations to determine what was going on. But equally you have been left with the consequences

It was nothing precancerous or that had the ability to turn into cancer. It was a complicated Fibroadenoma. I'm not sure why that took a second opinion and third opinion to diagnose. Possibly because it was so different from the biopsy results and because I had already had the surgeries so they wanted to be sure?? I will ask for a explanation anyway

What an awful experience. Perhaps worth getting a copy of your notes and asking an independent Dr to look at them. If it transpires that your condition was difficult to investigate and the surgeries were appropriate, that would be easier to accept

I agree. You are still in a state of shock. And will be for some time.
Ask for a debrief. Then chew the fat some more. Then see how you feel.

Would it have been something that should have been removed anyway? How can a biopsy be wrong (not a medical expert)?

A similar thing happened to my sister in law.
Told her she had bone cancer. Removed her leg.
She didn’t have cancer.
The doctor concerned went on to misdiagnose others & put them through unnecessary treatment & amputations.
She then also developed breast cancer - highly likely caused by the radiography she never needed.

Yes she sued. I would do the same thing in her position

the surgical team acted with the knowledge they had. They haven't skipped any steps, they've done all the appropriate investigations to determine what was going on

How do you know?

No one on this thread can determine that. The hospital may have acted impeccably, and the OP has just been unlucky in having a false positive, or they may have negligently performed life-altering surgery. Anyone on this thread who pretends to know which of the two possibilities is correct is talking out of their arse.

Firstly, I’m really sorry this happened to you.
I have been through the process of suing the NHS so I would imagine this would be similar.
There are two stages.
Firstly, negligence needs to be clearly proven. The case will be peer reviewed.
Secondly, compensation amounts for distress are quite small ( my children received 2k each for loss of love and affection of their father). Mine was similar for loss of my husband. Financial loss directly resulting is compensated so that would look at effects on employment etc.

@ineedaholidaynow

Would it have been something that should have been removed anyway? How can a biopsy be wrong (not a medical expert)?

I don't know how it could be so wrong. Especially when it came back as hormone receptive which as far as I can see the benign tumour I was diagnosed with can't be. I will push for more answers.

I think they’ve done the right thing and whilst it’s hard to readjust after setting yourself up for cancer treatment I would count yourself lucky and perhaps ask for a full debrief/insight into why they thought it was cancer. If it was a complicated mass I’m inclined to think surgery would always have been needed as these things can turn cancerous if left. I wouldn’t sue but would as them for full disclosure

@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.

YANBU. I’d get legal advice. Sorry OP.

Understandably you are in shock and have every right to feel the way you do. I’d suggest holding on making a decision until you have time to process it all. If you feel you want to pursue it you can then seek advice on how likely you would be to succeed

There is a culture of cover up too. One letter was clearly written after the fact when we reviewed medical files.
Get independent advice.

Just looking at the book

It names DCIS - ductal carcinoma in situ.

Just in case it's useful.

Gosh, how awful for you.

Sounds like you would personally benefit much more from entering initially into counselling/therapy rather than a stressful court case. Maybe private counselling could be the compensation you need.

Yes 100%. You need to get some legal advice and force a full investigation. It may well be that the hospital is already doing this and that is why you aren't getting the answers you need.

There was a recent case in the West Midlands of a rogue doctor who was diagnosing cancer in women and performing mastectomies. There were hundreds of women involved who didn't even have cancer in the first place. It's very important that you highlight your case - you might not be the only person this has happened to and you have been left with scars, discomfort and mental trauma because of this.

Be honest with your family and friends. And be honest about how devastated you are and the impact this has had and is having on you. Anyone that says you should be grateful for not having cancer can fuck off with their insensitivity. It's OK not to feel grateful - this is possibly worse because it has all been so pointless and you are left with lifelong scars.

You have all helped me realise what I need is answers and probably extensive counselling! I feel like a different person to who I was 2 months ago when I was "diagnosed" . And a lot of that change now makes me feel like a fraud because I never had cancer. But at the same time I can't go back to who I was before either.