Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
Did you know that over half of bladder cancer patients are initially misdiagnosed with another condition? Well, they are, and that is particularly alarming because the prognosis for patients with bladder cancer is significantly better when the disease is caught at an early stage. On the other side of the coin, delays in diagnosing cancer can make a poor outcome more likely.
Not every failure to spot the early signs of bladder cancer means the person affected can make a compensation claim. However, if the failure was due to negligence, you may be justified in bringing a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim against the medical professional responsible for causing the delay.
How common are bladder cancer misdiagnoses?
According to a survey by the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition, 57% of patients with bowel cancer are initially diagnosed with a different condition. Worryingly, one in five bladder cancer patients did not feel that their doctor took their symptoms seriously at first, with over 20% having to visit their doctor twice before being referred to a specialist.
Why is bladder cancer misdiagnosed?
The symptoms of bladder cancer are often mistaken for less acute conditions, such as:
- an enlarged prostate,
- kidney infections,
- urinary tract infections.
As a result, medical professionals sometimes fail to recognise a patient’s symptoms as indicating they may have the onset of bladder cancer; a mistake that causes delays in diagnosis.
What are the potential consequences of bladder cancer misdiagnoses?
The potential consequences of medical professionals failing to detect bladder cancer early on include:
- The disease spreads to other parts of the body. This is known as metastatic bladder cancer. Bladder cancer most commonly metastasises to a patient’s liver, lungs, and bones.
- The patient is experiencing more severe symptoms. Unchecked bladder cancer can cause debilitating symptoms, including loss of bladder and bowel control, weight loss, pain, and fatigue.
- Organ dysfunction. If the tumour is allowed to grow and obstruct the flow of urine, serious problems, such as kidney failure, can occur.
- More invasive treatment. Generally speaking, later-stage cancers require more invasive treatment than those caught at an early stage. Invasive treatment can have a marked impact on a patient’s quality of life.
If bladder cancer gets diagnosed early, when the disease is only in the surface layer of the bladder, the 5-year survival rate is a reassuring 96% However, the longer the disease goes untreated, the greater chance it has to spread, and the worse a patient’s prognosis will likely be.
Where the cancer remains localised to the bladder, the 5-year survival rate is 70%. Once it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other structures, the rate drops to 36%.
By the time the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the liver or lungs, the 5-year survival rate is just 5%.
In addition to these physical effects, bladder cancer misdiagnoses can have a severe impact on a patient’s mental health. Many patients report experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression, with some losing their faith in the medical profession entirely.
When can you make a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim?
Not all delayed diagnoses are the result of a medical professional’s error. For example, if a patient’s symptoms are vague or non-specific, the medic may not have done anything wrong in failing to detect bladder cancer at an early stage.
To make a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim, you must prove that the medical professional in question acted negligently. This means that their conduct must have fallen below the standard reasonably expected of a reasonably competent and skilled healthcare professional in their position.
On top of this, the medical professional’s actions must have caused the harm you suffered. So, if the outcome was unlikely to have been any different if the medical professional had acted correctly, you cannot make a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim.
The doctor may have been at fault for the medical negligence. However, if their negligence did not cause you any more harm than would have been the case if the negligence hadn’t happened, there is nothing to claim for.
Here are some examples of the types of situations that may give rise to a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim:
- A medical professional overlooks common symptoms of bladder cancer.
- A GP fails to refer a patient with bladder cancer symptoms to a specialist.
- A medical professional fails to arrange for a patient to undergo the tests required to rule out or confirm bladder cancer, or
- Delays in arranging those tests.
- A medical professional misinterprets a patient’s test results.
- A medical professional fails to act on abnormal test results.
If you believe that you may have a good reason to make a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim, Mooneerams medical negligence solicitors will be happy to help. We offer a no-obligation initial consultation to discuss your situation. After listening to you, we’ll tell you whether we think you have reasonable prospects of bringing a successful cancer misdiagnosis claim.
Bladder cancer misdiagnosis claims FAQs.
Is there a time limit for making a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim?
Yes, generally speaking, you must make your bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim within three years of the medical negligence or when you first became aware of symptoms caused by the medical negligence.
Special rules apply to children and individuals who lack mental capacity. Our medical negligence lawyers will advise you on the applicable deadline for your situation.
Deadlines for medical negligence claims are strict. If you miss them, you won’t be able to make a compensation claim, even if you have a strong case. It is essential to seek legal advice as soon as you feel up to it.
How much compensation will I receive for a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim?
The legal term for compensation is ‘damages’.
You will receive two types of damages to compensate you for your bladder cancer misdiagnosis.
- General damages will compensate you for your pain and suffering, and for ‘loss of amenity’. (What’s loss of ‘amenity’? It refers to the loss of your quality of life – you can’t do as much as you would have before you were injured or got ill due to negligence.
- Special damages will compensate you for your financial losses.
The compensation you receive will be unique to your claim.
Generally speaking, the more severe your pain, suffering, and loss of amenity, the more compensation you will receive.
How much your special damages will be depends on the total amount of your financial losses.
For instance, if you had to take more time off work for treatment because of your delayed diagnosis and lost income as a result, you would include your loss of earnings in your special damages claim.
Our medical negligence solicitors will use the evidence we collect in support of your case to calculate your damages. In the meantime, you can get an idea about the level of compensation you can expect for some injuries by using our compensation calculator.
Can I make a No Win No Fee claim for a bladder cancer misdiagnosis?
Absolutely. We believe a person who suffers because of bladder cancer misdiagnosis should be able to pursue the compensation they deserve, whatever their financial position. To help them do so, we act for most of our clients on a No Win No fee basis.
When we act for you on a No Win No Fee basis, you do not pay our fees upfront, and you’ll only pay us if you win. To read more about how this arrangement works, go to our No Win No Fee page.
Will my bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim go to court?
Nobody wants to go to court over medical negligence claims. Litigation is time-consuming, expensive, and often involves uncertainty about whether the claim will be won.
Therefore, if the other side believes that your claim has a good chance of succeeding, they are likely to make a settlement offer before the case reaches trial.
That said, most claims against NHS healthcare professionals or institutions will be handled by a body at arm’s length from the NHS, called NHS Resolution.
This organisation provides claim management services when the NHS faces a medical negligence claim from a patient, such as a bladder cancer misdiagnosis claim.
There is a feeling that, at times, NHS Resolution could do more to accept liability for settling medical negligence claims more quickly.
For this reason, many clinical negligence claims solicitors for the person making the claim (the claimant) issue court proceedings to try and break the deadlock or to inject some urgency into the claims process.
Even then, most cases will not go to court, but will instead settle at an earlier stage.
Why should I choose Mooneerams Solicitors for my bladder cancer negligence claim?
At Mooneerams, we specialise in providing legal solutions for patients who have experienced pain and suffering as a result of medical negligence, including bladder cancer misdiagnoses.
As well as being legal experts in medical negligence claims and having the experience needed to secure the maximum compensation for you, our solicitors also have a reputation for possessing a comforting manner.
They understand and empathise with the profound emotional toll a cancer misdiagnosis takes on the person living with the disease, as well as their family.
Don’t just take our word for it – check out our 5* reviews on ReviewSolicitors or call us now on 029 2199 1927.
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