This guide explains when and how you could claim medical negligence compensation for cancer misdiagnosed as adenomyosis if it was caused by a medical professional breaching the duty of care they owed you and you suffered avoidable harm as a result. There are a set of eligibility criteria that need to be met in order for you have to valid grounds to pursue a medical negligence claim. Read on to learn more about these and the evidence you could gather to support your case.
Cancer Misdiagnosed As Adenomyosis – Can You Claim Compensation?
Mistaking cancer for a different condition could have serious and even life-threatening effects. Later in this guide, we discuss how compensation can be awarded to address these different impacts and how settlements are calculated following a successful claim.
Finally, we discuss how one of our medical misdiagnosis claims solicitors could help you under No Win No Fee terms and the services they can provide.
If you have any questions about medical negligence claims whilst or after reading, please contact our advisors. They can offer free advice and help you understand whether you’re eligible to pursue a claim for medical negligence compensation. To reach them, you can:
- Call 0800 073 8801.
- Go online to contact us and ask about your claim.
- Talk to an advisor in the live chat feature below.
Select A Section
- Cancer Misdiagnosed As Adenomyosis – Can You Claim Compensation?
- How Can Cancer Be Mistaken For Adenomyosis?
- What Proof Of Medical Negligence Do You Need?
- How Much Could You Claim For Cancer Misdiagnosed As Adenomyosis?
- Get Help With No Win No Fee Clinical Negligence Claims
- Further Clinical Negligence Claim Guidance
Cancer Misdiagnosed As Adenomyosis – Can You Claim Compensation?
Any medical professional who agrees to treat you has a duty to give their patient the correct standard of care. As part of that duty of care, they need to listen to your symptoms, carry out tests when necessary and determine what further steps to take in light of a diagnosis.
If a failure by a medical professional to uphold this duty led to your cancer being misdiagnosed as adenomyosis, you might wonder whether you could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim.
In order to begin a medical negligence claim for a cancer misdiagnosis, you must prove:
- A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
- They breached that duty by not providing the correct standard of care.
- This breach resulted in you suffering avoidable harm.
Cancer Negligence Claim Time Limits
As per The Limitation Act 1980, you generally have three years to begin a medical negligence claim. This can start from the date of the medical negligence occurring. Alternatively, you may have three years from the date you learned that a medical professional’s breached duty led to your avoidable harm. This is called the date of knowledge.
A small number of exceptions can affect the limitation further, such as if the person is under the age of 18, or the affected person lacks the mental capacity to start the claim themselves.
To learn more about misdiagnosis claim time limits or see how long you have to get started, call the number above and speak with an advisor.
How Can Cancer Be Mistaken For Adenomyosis?
The NHS explains that adenomyosis is a condition where the uterus starts growing into the muscle of the womb’s wall. Symptoms include pain or heavy bleeding during a period and pelvis pain. There are different types of cancers that affect the female reproductive system which have similar symptoms, such as ovarian, cervical or womb cancer. If any of these cancers are misdiagnosed, it could lead to the illness spreading to other organs such as the lungs and spleen.
Below, we have provided some examples of how cancer could be misdiagnosed as adenomyosis:
- Your test results are mixed up with another patients due to an administrative error. As a result, you are incorrectly diagnosed with adenomyosis despite having cervical cancer. This results in you receiving the wrong treatment leading to complications. Additionally, your cancer spreads to other organs due to delayed treatment of the correct condition.
- You are taken to a hospital because of severe cramps. Tests are ordered but are misread, leading to you receiving an incorrect diagnosis of adenomyosis. By the time the tests are repeated and a delayed diagnosis of womb cancer is given, you require more invasive treatment, such as surgery.
If you have experienced medical misdiagnosis from a medical professional breaching their duty of care, and suffered unnecessary harm as a result, you may have a valid claim. Give our team a call and an advisor can help you learn if you could seek medical negligence compensation.
What Proof Of Medical Negligence Do You Need?
You must ensure you have as much evidence as possible to prove that medical negligence occurred leading to your cancer being misdiagnosed as adenomyosis. With that in mind, try to collect:
- Copies of your medical records. You have the right to request a copy from your healthcare provider. These records could show the misdiagnosis and the treatment you needed.
- The contact details of any witnesses. This could include chaperones or anyone else who attended appointments with you. They could then be contacted for a statement at a later date.
Your case may also be subject to the Bolam Test. This involves details of your care being examined by a panel of medical professionals with expertise in the relevant field. They would pass judgement on whether the care you received met the correct standard. You do not have to arrange a Bolam Test yourself and whether it is performed is decided on a case-by-case basis.
Additionally, you may also be invited to attend an independent medical assessment to produce a more in-depth report on the physical and mental impacts of the medical negligence, including how you’re likely to be affected in the future.
One of our solicitors could help you with the different stages of the medical negligence claims process by using their experience of handling similar cases. To learn whether they could represent you and assist you in seeking compensation, please contact an advisor on the number above.
How Much Could You Claim For Cancer Misdiagnosed As Adenomyosis?
If you make a successful misdiagnosis compensation claim, you could receive a settlement comprising up to two heads of loss. The first is general damages compensation, accounting for physical and mental impacts caused by the medical negligence. This will be awarded in successful claims.
Those responsible for calculating general damages could use different resources to help them, including your independent medical report. Additionally, they could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines, which features numerous guideline compensation brackets for various injuries and illnesses.
Compensation Table
This table shows guideline figures from the JCG, with the exception of the first entry. Please remember that the table is only a guide.
| HARM | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION – GUIDELINES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries and Illnesses with Special Damages | Serious | Up to £250,000+ | A successful claim could see you awarded a settlement comprising compensation for the different impacts of the cancer misdiagnosis, including physical, mental, and financial. |
| Female Reproductive System | Infertility Caused By Injury Or Disease | £114,900 to £170,280 | Sexual dysfunction, severe depression and anxiety, as well as pain and scarring are present in cases in this bracket. |
| Permanent Sexual Dysfunction | £43,010 to £102,100 | This bracket refers to sexual dysfunction affecting a person with children or who would not have had any children in any event. Cases in the upper end of this bracket have significant medical complications, including where there has been multiple surgeries needed. | |
| Infertility With No Aggravating Features | £56,080 to £71,350 | A younger person with no children experiences infertility but not sexual dysfunction. | |
| Lungs | Serious | £100,670 to £135,920 | In cases of a young person with a serious disability and the probability of the condition worsening and causing an early death. |
| Lung Cancer | £70,030 to £97,330 | Cases involving an older person where there is serious impairment to the person’s quality of life and function, as well as severe pain. | |
| Spleen | Loss of Spleen | £20,800 to £26,290 | Damage to the immune system from the loss of spleen results in a continuing risk of internal infection and other disorders. |
How Special Damages Could Be Awarded
A settlement can also include special damages, the second head of loss, which compensates for the financial losses caused by medical negligence. For example, if your misdiagnosis of cancer as adenomyosis led to complications and you were unable to work temporarily, you could seek compensation for a loss of earnings.
Other expenses that could be addressed by the special damages head of loss include:
- Medical bills, such as fees for prescriptions.
- Travel costs.
- Domestic healthcare fees.
You can learn more about medical negligence compensation payouts and what you could claim for by calling and talking to an advisor.
Get Help With No Win No Fee Clinical Negligence Claims
If you are interested in seeking legal representation, you could benefit from working with one of our solicitors. They could take on your misdiagnosed cancer case under No Win No Fee terms.
The Conditional Fee Agreement they offer, which is a type of No Win No Fee contract, means no upfront or continuing fee for their work needs to be paid. Additionally, losing the case means no payment for the solicitor’s work is required.
If you win, the solicitor will collect a small percentage of your compensation as their success fee, with a legal cap on what they can take set by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. This cap ensures you keep the majority of your award.
Contact Us
Was your cancer misdiagnosed as adenomyosis because a medical professional breached their duty of care? Did you suffer avoidable harm as a result? If so, call our team to determine whether you’re eligible to begin a clinical negligence claim with one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors.
However, there is no obligation to start legal action and you can simply call to ask questions about claiming compensation for misdiagnosis.
Reach out to our team today for free via the following contact details below:
- Call 0800 073 8801.
- Visit our ‘contact us’ page.
- Open the live chat pop-up on this page.
Further Clinical Negligence Claim Guidance
Here are some more of our medical negligence claim guides:
- A look at prescription error claims and how they work.
- This case study illustrates how to make a GP misdiagnosis compensation claim.
- Read how to claim for medical negligence leading to the death of a loved one.
These resources could provide further support:
- Information on raising a concern about your doctor from the General Medical Council.
- A GOV.UK resource explaining Statutory Sick Pay after missing work through illness.
- Guidance on the NHS Constitution for England from GOV.UK.
Thank you for reading our guide to claiming medical negligence compensation if cancer is misdiagnosed as adenomyosis. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor on the number above.