Woman terminally ill with cervical cancer feels ‘lost in the system’

A woman now terminally ill with cervical cancer, who claims she had a 95 per cent chance of being successfully treated if a smear test taken almost nine years ago was read and reported correctly, has told the High Court she feels “lost in the system” and “of no significance”.

A mother of two aged in her forties, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2015, she said she would not be “in this mess if my scan was read correctly in 2010”. She felt “hurt and let down” and her life and that of her family has been “turned inside out”.

Asked by her counsel Hugh O’Keeffe SC how she felt about not been included in a HSE audit of cervical smears, she said: “I feel lost in the system, that I’m not important, I’m of no sigificance”.

Asked about denials by the HSE and laboratories of liability for her situation, she said “people had responsibilities” and owe a duty of care and “someone didn’t do their job right”. She felt there is “no accountability” and wondered “where is the truth, does anyone care?”.

“I am caught up in this mess and I am the one suffering,” she said. “I am too young to die, I have two small children.”

The woman, who cannot be named by court order, is suing the HSE as well as Sonic Healthcare and Medlab Pathology, both with offices at Sandyford, Dublin, and Clinical Pathology Laboratories, of Austin, Texas over the alleged misreading and misreporting of a smear test taken in September 2010. Her husband has also sued.

The defendants deny the claims.

It is claimed the 2010 smear was received by Medlab Pathology in Dublin and sent to Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) in Austin to be dealt with and CPL reported the specimen was adequate and negative for signs of abnormality. It was recommended the woman return for a routine smear test in three years’ time.

The court has been told an expert to be called on the woman’s behalf will say the smear was inadequate and did not have enough cells on it to be assessed.

Two slides were taken from the sample and her expert would say there were abnormal single cells and abnormal groups of cells readily identifiable on both slides, showing a high grade abnormality.

95% chance

Patrick Treacy SC, also for the woman, said the expert will say these precancerous cells should have been identified and the woman referred immediately for a colposcopy and this would probably have prevented development of cervical cancer.

Another expert would say, if the slide was correctly read in 2010, she would have been called back and treated, there would have been a 95 per cent chance of a cure and less than a 1 per cent chance of her developing cervical cancer, counsel outlined.

After another smear test in September 2015 detected abnormalities, the woman was diagnosed with cancer and later had a radical hysterectomy and other surgery.

In September 2017, doctors discovered a further mass growing beside her bladder for which she underwent severe treatment. Doctors later discovered a further lump in her abdomen and the cancer recurred in her pelvis.

She has been receiving palliative chemotherapy and was given a prognosis of between 12 to 22 months but a scan in January showed some reduction in the pelvic cancer and that a lump in her lung was gone.

In continuing evidence on Friday, the woman said, when she returned to the doctor in September 2018, she was told the cancer was back in her pelvis, there was also a spot on her lung and it was “incurable”.

“I just could not stop crying. I knew I was in a worse state now and this battle was getting harder and harder.”

She told her children “Mammy was on special medicine and it was really strong” and was trying to hide the fact she was “”in serious trouble” but it was “another disastrous Christmas”.

“I knew I had another battle ahead of me and did not know if I was going to win or lose.”

The chemotherapy became so hard she felt she could not do it any more, she said.

Last January’s scan was some good news but in the past few weeks she was not feeling too good and is meeting her doctor next week. “My hope is they cure this cancer but I don’t think is going to happen.

The case continues on Tuesday before Justice Kevin Cross.