Breast cancer compensation

Our specialist medical negligence solicitors support people with breast cancer compensation claims when there have been failures in the care they receive.

We work with individuals who have suffered as a result of delayed diagnosis, missed diagnosis, delays in treatment or negligent treatment, including surgical negligence.

We understand that considering pursuing a compensation claim can be very worrying and often comes at a time when you are dealing with a lot of stress and upset already due to your illness or that of a loved one.

Our solicitors have a lot of experience in this area and we do all we can to take the worry off your shoulders. We’ll advise you on whether you have a claim, help you decide whether it is in your best interests to pursue compensation and support you throughout the process. We also work with families when a loved one has died due to clinical failings.

Am I entitled to breast cancer compensation?

You may be entitled to compensation if the care you received from a medical professional did not meet reasonable standards and it led to harm for you or a loved one.

That may mean, for example:

• your breast cancer was not spotted as early as it ought to have been and, as a result, it spread, became worse or required more invasive treatment
• a loved one’s breast cancer was not properly treated and they died
• surgery was carried out improperly
• secondary cancer was not identified.

How do I make a compensation claim for breast cancer misdiagnosis?

For a breast cancer compensation claim to be successful it’ll need to be proven that an error was made in your care and that error caused you harm.

Sometimes a doctor or NHS trust will accept that your treatment was wrong. In other cases that will need to be proven, with analysis of the facts by other clinical specialists.

You’ll need to appoint a solicitor to investigate and pursue your case. No win, no fee arrangements are available to ensure you are not exposed to any financial risk. You can also have an initial free consultation to decide if you wish to proceed and get advice on whether you are likely to win.

Enable Law is one of the leading medical negligence solicitors in the UK, highly rated by independent assessors such as the Chambers Directory and Legal 500. You can find out more about our team via: Why choose Enable Law.

What are the signs of breast cancer care negligence?

Delays in diagnosis or improper treatment of breast cancer can have catastrophic implications.

However, some of the outcomes that can happen as a result of medical negligence can also arise when care is undertaken quite properly, which can cause confusion.

Outcomes that may or may not be attributed to negligent breast cancer care include:

• Additional chemotherapy or radiotherapy
• Lymphodema – a condition that causes painful swelling to the arm. Lymphedema can happen as a result of quite proper radiotherapy or surgery too.
• Unnecessary surgery or surgery only made necessary due to a delay in diagnosis such as:
  • Mastectomy (removal of the breast) that would not have been necessary had to diagnosis come quicker
  • Lymph nodes removal
• Secondary cancer / cancer spreading
• Reduced lifespan.

If you’re unsure of whether the care you received was negligent, we can talk you through what to do. You deserve an explanation and to understand what has happened to you and we will help you to get it.

Missed breast cancer diagnosis

The procedures used to diagnose breast cancer are not infallible and cannot be expected to be.

Procedures include physical examination, ultrasound scanning, mammograms and biopsy.

Mammograms are usually extremely reliable when carried out properly, though will miss cancer in about one in every 2,500 women screened.

Conversely, about 4,000 women each year in the UK are offered treatment for cancer that is picked up during screening but would never have become life threatening, according to the NHS.

For care to be negligent it needs to be shown not only that it had a negative outcome, but also that the care given was not carried out properly or would not have been seen as appropriate by other medical professionals. Our solicitors will consider the evidence in your case and call upon clinical specialists to offer opinions in order to demonstrate why you have a compensation claim.

Previous cases where our lawyers have secured compensation include those where:

• a GP failed to refer a woman for investigations into a breast lump
• a mammogram was misinterpreted
• the tissue sample in a biopsy was misinterpreted.