The family of a grandmother who sued over an alleged missed cancer diagnosis has settled her High Court action for €90,000. The settlement came four years after the death of Ann Delaney.
Ms Delaney was aged 69 when she initiated legal proceedings. It was claimed, by the time the tumour on Ms Delaney’s salivary gland was diagnosed – more than two years after an MRI scan was reported as normal – it was at Stage 4b and inoperable.
Ms Delaney was treated with palliative radiation and chemotherapy and while the growth of the tumour was initially halted, she died from her condition on June 15th, 2013.
Outside the High Court, her daughter Lesley Delaney, speaking on behalf of her father, Thomas, and the Delaney family, said they had continued the legal battle after their mother’s death at 73 years of age.
‘Increasing pain’
“It has been a very long battle which was started by my mother. Our mother spent the last four years of her life in ever increasing pain and suffering. She bravely endured devastating facial disfigurement, speech impairment, difficulty with eyesight, loss of balance and extreme difficulty eating and swallowing,” Ms Delaney said.
“In an effort to prolong her life, she underwent toxic rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. It is heartbreaking for we the family to think her Stage 1 cancer would have been 95 per cent treatable.”
Thomas Delaney, of Delvilla, Radestown, Ballyfoyle, Co Kilkenny, had sued Aut Even Hospital, Kilkenny, for alleged negligence. The claims were denied.
