Cancer misdiagnosis can have devastating impacts on you and your family. Often, a delay in the diagnosis leads to more advanced cancer, requiring complex and invasive treatments. In addition, a misdiagnosis can lead to a delay in treatment, which can allow for the cancer to spread to other organs, potentially reducing survival rates. If you or a family member’s bowel cancer was undetected or incorrectly diagnosed as a result of a medical professional’s substandard treatment, bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims can help you seek much-needed compensation.
At such a difficult time, you might be wondering how a compensation claim could help and why it would be worthwhile to pursue one. Through working with a specialist medical negligence solicitor, you could recover compensation for the physical harm, psychological distress and any out-of-pocket expenses caused by the misdiagnosis. With our years of experience, we can handle the legal complexities, ensuring you can remain focused on your recovery.
At Legal Expert, our advisors can offer you an obligation-free case consultation. Here, they can listen, assess your case and explain the options available to you. If you have an eligible claim, they can connect you with one of our expert medical negligence solicitors who can provide guidance through each step of your claim and work to secure the best possible settlement for you. To learn how to get started with bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims, please contact our advisors today.
4.8 (466 reviews) Can I Claim Compensation For A Bowel Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Yes, you could claim compensation for a bowel cancer misdiagnosis if you can show that you suffered unnecessary harm from this misdiagnosis due to receiving negligent medical care. In order to determine this, we must essentially prove:
- A medical professional owed you a duty of care. – As a patient receiving treatment, any medical professional owes you a legal responsibility to provide the expected standard of care.
- They failed to meet this duty by providing substandard treatment. – For example, they fail to consider all he symptoms you describe to them, fail to refer you for necessary tests, or misread the test results.
- You experienced avoidable and unnecessary harm as a result. – If bowel cancer is left undiagnosed, this could cause various complications, such as the cancer spreading to other organs or worsening and needing more aggressive treatment.
For a free case consultation, please get in touch with our advisory team today.
How Can Medical Negligence Cause Bowel Cancer To Be Misdiagnosed
Medical negligence can cause bowel cancer to be misdiagnosed due to a failure to spot symptoms, delaying or failing to order further testing or even misinterpreting your results or scans.
Some more specific examples include if:
- You visit your doctor with some concerns about your stomach and bowel movements. You explain to the doctor that you’ve been struggling with abdominal pain and toilet frequency. They diagnose your condition as irritable bowel syndrome without ordering further tests. As a result, your bowel cancer remains unnoticed and worsens.
- Due to an administrative error in hospital, your medical results are mixed up with another patient’s. This leads to your doctor diagnosing your condition as stomach ulcers, and your bowel cancer goes untreated, resulting in delayed treatment.
- You visit the GP with some worrying symptoms; you explain that you have noticed a lump in your stomach and blood in your stool. Your doctor orders further testing, but your biopsy results are misinterpreted. As a result, you are diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, and so your bowel cancer remains undiagnosed.
These examples aren’t extensive, so to discuss the circumstances of your own bowel cancer misdiagnosis claim, please get in touch.
What Compensation Can I Get For Misdiagnosed Bowel Cancer?
The amount of compensation you could get for misdiagnosed bowel cancer is dependent on the level of harm caused, as well as the extent to which the harm has impacted your daily life. Additionally, compensation is often made up of two different heads of loss, called general and special damages.
General damages is compensation for the physical and psychological harm caused by the misdiagnosis. When this is being valued, professionals can appreciate the level of physical and psychological pain and suffering, as well as any reduction in your quality of life.
Legal professionals, when valuing general damages, can also consider frameworks like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document outlines categories of harm and corresponding guideline compensation brackets.
We’ve provided a table below with some of these figures for types of harm that may be suffered in bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims. Please note that the top entry has not been taken from the JCG and that this table is a guideline only.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Forms of Harm + Special Damages | Various severe types of harm paired with financial losses such as care costs, lost income and private medical expenses | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Bowels | (a) double incontinence, with the complete loss of natural bowel function with other medical complications | Up to £224,790 |
| (b) entire loss of natural function with a dependence on colostomy, depending on age | Up to £183,190 | |
| (c) faecal urgency and passive incontinence causing distress and embarrassment | In the region of £97,530 | |
| (d) serious abdominal injury leading to impairment of function and necessitating temporary colostomy | £54,420 to £85,100 | |
| (e) penetrating injury leading to some permanent damage with an eventual return to normal control and natural function | £15,370 to £29,870 | |
| Psychiatric Harm | Severe (a) the award will be impacted by the person's ability to cope with life, work, and education and their prognosis | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe (b) a better prognosis than that above, but similar significant impacts as those in the above bracket | £23,270 to £66,920 | |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate (c) in this bracket, the injured person will have largely recovered and continuing impacts will not be grossly disabling | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Less Severe (d) a virtual full recovery made within one to two years and any continuing symptoms will be minor | £4,820 to £9,980 |
Why Claim For Bowel Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Claiming for bowel cancer misdiagnosis can not only compensate you for the harm you have suffered, but it can also help you seek compensation for any financial losses caused as a result. This compensation (special damages) can reimburse you for:
- Loss of earnings if you’ve taken time off work, including missed pension contributions or bonuses
- Private medical costs or prescriptions, or any associated medical costs
- Any home adaptations, such as wetroom installation costs
- Travel expenses for any appointments
- Care costs, both professional or gratuitous
- Childcare costs if you have been unable to care for your child
Special damages can help cover your out-of-pocket losses, providing the financial support you need. However, in order to seek this compensation, you must hold evidence of the financial impact caused. This could include payslips, invoices or receipts.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about how compensation is awarded in bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims and whether you could be eligible to make one.
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How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Negligent Bowel Cancer Diagnosis?
You will generally have 3 years to start a claim for a negligent bowel cancer diagnosis. This time limit runs from either the date of the negligent treatment or the date that you became aware of the substandard care and the harm it caused (otherwise known as the date of knowledge).
This limitation period is established under the Limitation Act 1980 and also allows for exceptions to the time limit. These exceptions include:
- Claimants under the age of 18 – their time limit would instead be paused until the date of their 18th birthday
- Claimants who lack the required mental capacity – the time limit would be suspended until a full recovery was made (where possible), and would then run from this recovery date
In these instances where the claimant cannot begin their own claim, a loved one can on their behalf by assuming the role of a litigation friend.
If you’d like to learn more about how long you have to claim or become a litigation friend, you can contact our friendly advisory team.
How Can I Prove Medical Negligence Caused My Bowel Cancer Misdiagnosis?
In order to prove medical negligence caused your bowel cancer misdiagnosis, you will need to hold evidence of this. However, before you begin to compile documents as evidence, you might be wondering what to do first. Below, we’ve provided a simple list to help you prioritise your health and support your chances of making a successful claim.
Steps You Can Take
- Seek medical help: after suffering a misdiagnosis, you could still require professional medical treatment. Ensuring that you receive the medical help you need will prioritise your health and create further medical records of your condition.
- Begin collecting evidence: once your health condition has been assessed and you’ve received the help you need, you can begin to collate documents as evidence. This can include your GP record, medical evidence such as test results and any correspondence between you and the medical institution you received care from. Additionally, we could help arrange an independent medical assessment, during which an oncologist could review the standard of treatment you received.
- Report the substandard treatment: creating an official record of the negligent treatment can be invaluable as evidence. You can directly make a complaint to the NHS hospital or clinic you received care from, or you could contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for support when making a complaint. If you received your care in a private hospital, you could make a complaint directly to the hospital.
- Keep a diary: noting down any pain levels and your daily symptoms can be helpful when showing the extent of harm you’ve suffered. Make sure to keep track of any appointments, medication and time off work.
- Seek legal advice: getting in touch with a specialist medical negligence solicitor can be really useful. They can discuss whether you’d have a valid claim, estimate your compensation payout and handle all communications on your behalf.
- Start your claim within the time limit: as we discussed above, most medical negligence claims must be started within 3 years from the date of the treatment, or date of knowledge.
If you’ve got any questions about the next steps, please contact our advisors today.
How Our Expert Cancer Misdiagnosis Solicitors Can Help You
At Legal Expert, our cancer misdiagnosis solicitors have extensive experience handling cases for our clients nationwide. With a tailored service, we understand that bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims often involve complicated medical evidence, which requires a careful, sensitive approach.
As well as this, some more of the services on offer include:
- Regular updates on the progress of your case
- Helping to gather documents to build a strong body of evidence
- Explaining the medical negligence claims process and any language you mightn’t be familiar with
- Arranging independent medical assessments, or connecting you with specialists to support your recovery
- Tirelessly advocating on your behalf to negotiate a settlement that reflects the extent of harm you’ve suffered
This isn’t all that our solicitors could do for you, so to learn more about how we can help you, please get in touch with us today.
No Win No Fee Bowel Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
At Legal Expert, our solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement. With this in place, one of our solicitors can begin working on your claim without you having to pay anything upfront for their services. Moreover, you wouldn’t face any ongoing costs for your solicitor’s work, or have anything to pay for their services if your claim was unsuccessful.
Instead, if your case was successful, your solicitor will take a legally limited percentage of your compensation. This acts as our solicitors’ ‘success fee’ and is capped in line with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, to make sure that you receive the majority of your compensation.
Contact Legal Expert
Contact us today here at Legal Expert with any questions you may have about the bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims process or how we could help you with claiming compensation.
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us online
- Speak to an advisor using our live chat
Frequently Asked Questions
Below, we have answered some frequently asked questions about bowel cancer:
What Are Some Common Bowel Cancer Symptoms?
Some symptoms of bowel cancer could include:
- Changes in your faeces, such as increased diarrhoea or constipation that is unusual for you
- Blood in your stool
- Stomach pain
- Losing weight without trying
- A lump in your stomach
Who Is At Risk Of Developing Bowel Cancer?
You could be at a higher risk of developing bowel cancer if:
- You are over 50
- You’re overweight
- There is family history of bowel cancer, such as a close relative
- You smoke
- You suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis
How Should Bowel Cancer Be Diagnosed?
The main way that bowel cancer is tested and diagnosed is through a colonoscopy. A doctor will use a tube to look inside your bowel, and they may take a biopsy. You would then typically receive an update either on the same day or within a few days.
What Treatment Is Available For Bowel Cancer?
Bowel cancer treatment can consist of a combination of different methods, including surgery, chemotherapy, targeted medicine or radiotherapy.
More Information
For some more information, please see our other guides on:
- How to make pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claims
- When could you claim for brain cancer misdiagnosis?
- Cervical cancer misdiagnosis claims
Helpful External Resources:
- Government advice on Personal Independence Payment
- Where to get help and support for bowel cancer
- Information on claiming Statutory Sick Pay
Thank you for reading our guide on bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims.
