Second woman dies after breast cancer missed

A REVIEW of cancer cases and an external inquiry have been demanded following the revelation that a second woman has died when she was misdiagnosed after presenting with symptoms of breast cancer at Ennis General Hospital.

Edel Kelly (26) died after first presenting with a lump in her breast. It was initially diagnosed as benign but a request for subsequent follow-up to confirm this was not acted upon.

If confidence is to be restored in the hospital, an independent review of the case must be carried out, according to her family solicitor, Eugene O'Kelly. The mother of two young boys, Jack (6) and Lee (3), Ms Kelly died last June.

The case relating to Ms Kelly comes only 10 days after the revelation that another woman, Ann Moriarty (53), subsequently died after a cancer misdiagnosis at the same hospital.

"There is a tremendous lack of confidence in Ennis General at the moment and that is extremely worrying for patients and demoralizing for staff and that reason alone shows the urgent need for an independent review to be carried out," Mr O'Kelly said yesterday. "The case involving Edel Kelly is coming too quickly after the Ann Moriarty case and there should be an external review of all the cases."

Mr O'Kelly said Ms Kelly missed out on a year of treatment because of the misdiagnosis.

"She wanted to expose this and her parents, John and Una, now want to continue what Edel started. They were particularly annoyed when the Health Service Executive said the Ann Moriarty case was a one-off."

Mr O'Kelly confirmed that the Kellys are to hold a press briefing in Kilrush, Co Clare, today to outline the need for an independent review.

A spokesman for the HSE yesterday would only say that it "is examining the issues raised and will communicate directly with the family".

A spokesman for the Department of Health could not be reached for comment last night.

"This is no longer an internal HSE matter," said Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey. "To restore public and patient confidence in the medical care being given at Ennis General Hospital, I am calling for a review of all relevant X-rays at the hospital, and an external inquiry into the known cases of misdiagnosis set up. I would urge the Minister and the HSE to act on this immediately."

A report in yesterday's Sunday Tribunestated that Ms Kelly first noticed a lump on her left breast in July 2006 and alerted her local GP. She was referred to Ennis General Hospital, where an ultrasound was carried out.

It reported that Ms Kelly had a "soft tissue mass" that warranted "further urgent investigation". A core biopsy of her breast was carried out at Limerick Regional Hospital on December 7th and the final diagnosis said there was "no tumour identified".

However, the diagnosis also stated "clinical correlation recommended", but this did not occur.

On December 18th, 2006, Ennis General Hospital gave Ms Kelly the all-clear and said the test results were "benign".

In June 2007, Ms Kelly complained of severe back pain and was later admitted to Ennis hospital vomiting blood on October 19th. Ms Kelly was referred to Limerick, where her breast cancer was diagnosed and it was also discovered that she had cancer in her liver and bones.