Patient loses lung in cancer misdiagnosis
13 August 2008
Patient suffering chest infection has lung removed needlessly following misdiagnosis of cancer
A man wrongly diagnosed with cancer has had his lung removed unnecessarily. Laurence Ball, had surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary ("ARI") to remove a tumour on his lung but was later told that he never had lung cancer.
In May 2005, Mr Ball suffered a chest infection and tests were carried out at the ARI. He was informed that he had cancer in his left lung and in August 2005, he underwent surgery for removal of a tumour. After the operation, surgeons told Mr Ball that he did not need chemotherapy, as there had been no cancer in his lung.
Mr Ball said: "I was given a misdiagnosis, I've lost my lung and I lost my job. For those reasons I feel that at the very least an explanation should be given to me by the Grampian Health board who should sit down and discuss financial compensation for my loss of earnings."
In a statement, NHS Grampian said:
"The clinical course of action agreed for Mr Ball was arrived at following the review of all relevant information, test results, scans, x-rays etc by a multi-disciplinary group of clinicians.
It was considered to be the appropriate action based on all this information.
NHS Grampian deeply regrets that, with hindsight the procedure that Mr Ball underwent may not have been necessary."
Ashton Morton Slack's Healthcare Litigation team are experienced in cases of misdiagnosis. If you would like a free initial consultation to discuss your claim, please call us on 0114 275 2888 or fill in our Rapid Response Form.