A seriously ill woman in her late 30s who claims her cancer could have been eradicated if the results of a cervical smear test had been correctly interpreted and speedily acted upon has settled her action for damages for some €500,000.
Counsel for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland told the High Court yesterday it was "appropriate" to apologise to Janet Donnelly for the distress, damage and upset that had arisen from the circumstances of the action.
Ms Donnelly (38), a mother of an eight-year-old girl and with an address in Cabra, Dublin, "has been sent home to die", the court was told yesterday. Her counsel, Martin Hayden SC, said that last week she had given evidence from her sick bed while on a morphine drip.
Liability in the case was admitted only on Monday night, Mr Hayden said. The case was due to open yesterday.
Ms Donnelly had sued the Dublin Well Woman Centre Ltd and the Royal College of Surgeons, alleging incorrect interpretation of the smear test of June 24th, 1999, and failure to detect the presence of significantly abnormal cells. The court was told yesterday by counsel for the defence that no liability attached to the Well Woman Centre.
Ms Donnell had claimed that the defendants had falsely reassured her as to her state of health, thus causing delay in the treatment of her cancer, "such delay causing the development of a cancerous tumour needlessly endangering her life and allowing the cancer to spread".
It was claimed that failure to correctly interpret the June 1999 smear test not only delayed diagnosis of her condition by up to eight months but also prevented the complete eradication of the disease which, it was claimed, would have been possible in June 1999.
As a result of the delay, Ms Donnelly alleged, she developed cervical cancer and lymph-node cancer.
Before the case was settled later yesterday, Mr Hayden told Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan that liability was an issue up to Monday night and it was thought it was going to be a "full fight".
Charles Meenan SC, for the Dublin Well Woman Centre and Royal College of Surgeons, said it was appropriate for the college to apologise to Ms Donnelly and her family. He stressed that there was no liability attached to the Dublin Well Woman Centre.
The Well Woman Centre had advised Ms Donnelly to have an annual smear test as she was identified as being at greater risk of developing cervical cancer than the average woman, the court heard.
On June 25th, 1999, she had a smear test, which was analysed by the RCSI on June 28th, 1999, and subsequently reported as negative. Ms Donnelly was told of that result in August 1999.
Reassured by the result of the June 1999 test, she continued to attribute symptoms she was experiencing to an adverse reaction to the contraceptive pill.
In March 2000 Ms Donnelly had another smear test, which was reported to be abnormal. A clinical examination and biopsy revealed she had an invasive type of carcinoma of the cervix.
It was claimed that, as a result of a failure to correctly interpret the smear test of June 1999, the treatment of her condition was delayed by eight months. As the cancer spread, Ms Donnelly had to have her womb removed and undergo chemotherapy.
Yesterday's hearing was attended by Ms Donnelly's parents Mandy and Stanley, and her brothers James and Sam.