Widow receives €60,000 for failure to diagnose husband’s lung cancer

A woman who sued a medical consultant and the HSE over failures to diagnose her late husband’s lung cancer has settled her High Court action for €60,000.

Rosarii Molloy Curran sued Dr Colm Quigley, a specialist in respiratory and general medicine at Ely Hospital, Wexford, and the HSE over alleged negligence and breach of duty of care towards her husband John Curran from August 2009 until his death in April 2011.

Liability was admitted and the settlement of the case was announced yesterday to Mr Justice Kevin Cross in the High Court.

An apology to the Curran family was also given in court on behalf of Dr Quigley whose counsel, Conor Halpin SC, offered his client’s sympathies to the Curran family. As a result of what happened, changes to the system of patient management had now been implemented to ensure what happened in this case did not occur again, Mr Halpin said.

Emotional suffering

Ms Molloy Curran, Carrigmannon, Killurin, Co Wexford, sued over emotional suffering and psychological injury as a result of her husband’s death.

Ciarán Craven SC, claimed Dr Quigley in August 2009 diagnosed her husband as suffering from low blood sodium.

Having purported to investigate Mr Curran’s condition further, no such investigations or follow-ups were carried out despite Mr Curran’s request to Dr Quigley for further investigations, it was alleged.

Between December 2009 and March 2010, when Mr Curran attended at Waterford Regional Hospital for investigation and treatment for a vascular condition, it was alleged he again showed signs of low sodium in his blood but there was no investigation or follow-up, it was claimed.

Mr Curran was diagnosed by Dr Quigley in December 2010 as having “Raynaud’s phenomenon”, involving excessively reduced blood flow generally caused by stress, and prescribed medication. No further investigation or follow-up was arranged or carried out, it was claimed.

Mr Curran was diagnosed in March 2011 with lung cancer at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, and died at home on April 16th, 2011

Ms Molloy Curran claimed her husband was deprived of the opportunity and benefits of early, proper and prompt diagnosis and subsequent treatment of his condition and, as a result, he died.

Clinical presentation

She also alleged failure to have proper regard for his clinical presentation, including his age and his high tobacco consumption. The standard of care provided was inadequate, it was alleged.

In a statement issued through their solicitor Dermot McNamara, the Curran family welcomed the settlement and expressed hope the case would lead to introduction of “fail-safe protocols” for patients awaiting vital tests.