Woman with breast cancer settles case over care at two hospitals

A woman with breast cancer who sued over the care she received at two hospitals, in Dublin and Cork, has settled her High Court action on confidential terms.

Joan O’Sullivan (50), of McDonagh Court, Old Road, Cashel, Co Tipperary, is a diagnosed carrier of a mutation gene which means she is at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. She has lost members of her extended family to cancer.

She claimed she suffered delay in the diagnosis and treatment of her cancer and her life expectancy may have been reduced.

She sued St James’s Hospital, Dublin, claiming she suffered perforation to her bowel during an operation in 2013 which was part of a cancer preventative plan and, as a result, plans for a preventative full mastectomy were derailed.

She also sued the HSE over her care at Cork University Hospital where she claimed an 8mm tumour in her right breast was not diagnosed when she had a scan in 2016. When the tumour was diagnosed 522 days later, it was 3cm, the court was told.

The settlement came on Friday, the second day of the hearing.

Mr Justice Michael Hanna said he was glad to hear of the settlement and wished Ms O’Sullivan the very best.

Since the diagnosis of her breast cancer in October last year, Ms O’Sullivan has had 20 weeks of chemotherapy and a right-sided mastectomy.

Ms O’Sullivan, had sued St James’s Hospital claiming, in relation to the 2013 procedure, failure to exercise reasonable care and skill and her bowel was perforated.

In her case against the HSE, she claimed failure to identify or to heed adequately or at all a significant abnormality in an MRI scan carried out in CUH in April 2016 and also alleged delayed diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer in her right breast.

The defendants denied claims but the HSE this week, by letter, admitted a breach of duty in relation to some of the care afforded at CUH.

Her counsel Patrick Treacy said it was decided there would be ongoing monitoring of her at St James’s Hospital and a treatment plan was put in place. It was decided she would have a procedure as an outpatient on March 6th, 2013 to remove her ovaries and Fallopian tubes, and a double mastectomy was expected in autumn 2013.

Their case was that there was an alleged perforation of Ms O’Sullivan’s bowel during suturing after the laparoscopic procedure, that should not have happened and the post op care allegedly fell below the standard of the hospital.

Mr Treacy said Ms O’Sullivan was discharged from hospital when she was in significant pain and was admitted days later to another hospital feeling unwell.

She was advised she had sepsis and E coli and had to have another operation.

The plans for a preventative double mastectomy in autumn 2013 were derailed as she was not well and was suffering from post traumatic stress relating to the March 2013 procedure, he said.

On October 19th, 2017 she was diagnosed with cancer in the right breast.

Their case was, had she had a mastectomy in autumn 2013, she would never have developed the two lumps in her right breast, .

On April 29th, 2016, she had an MRI scan at CUH and their case was there was a tumour of 8mm wide present in her right breast but there was no biopsy. When she next had a scan in October 2017 the tumour was 3cm and was the worst type of cancer, he said. Their case was this cancer should have been detected 522 days earlier.