Can You Claim For Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis?

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 11th July 2023. This guide will look at when you could be eligible to claim compensation for a lung cancer misdiagnosis. Medical professionals such as nurses and doctors, owe their patients a duty of care. This means they must provide the patient with the correct standard of care. Clinical or medical negligence happens when the medical professional provides the patient with inadequate medical care and they suffer avoidable harm as a result. This can include a delayed or missed diagnosis of different conditions.

In this guide, we will look at how a misdiagnosis could happen and the impact it could have on a patient.

Lung cancer misdiagnosis

Lung cancer misdiagnosis claims guide

Additionally, we will discuss the steps you could take if you experience negligence in a medical setting, including the evidence you can gather to support your potential claim.

To learn more, you can get in touch with our helpful team of advisors. They can offer legal advice free of charge and are available 24/7. To reach them, you can:

Alternatively, continue reading to learn more about the medical negligence claims process.

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis?
  2. What Could Cause A Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis?
  3. Could I Make A Medical Negligence Claim?
  4. Settlements For Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis
  5. Start A Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

What Is A Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis?

Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. It affects more than 43,000 people each year.

If medical negligence causes cancer of the lungs to be misdiagnosed, it could impact the patient in different ways. For example, after receiving a misdiagnosis, it could mean the patient’s treatment is delayed causing their cancer to worsen and spread to other parts of the body such as the brain, lymph nodes and bones.

As a result, the patient may need more aggressive treatment, such as invasive surgery alongside chemotherapy. Additionally, in more severe cases, a misdiagnosis could lead to a patient dying due to not receiving the correct treatment in a timely manner.

Compensation could be awarded to account for the avoidable harm a patient has experienced due to a medical professional failing to uphold the duty of care they owe. To learn whether you could be eligible to make a claim for yourself or on behalf of a deceased loved one, get in touch on the number above.

What Could Cause A Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis?

There are different ways a medical professional could fail to provide care that meets the correct standard leading to a lung cancer misdiagnosis. For example:

  • A GP may fail to send a patient for further tests to correctly diagnose a patient. As a result, they may be diagnosed with a different condition causing their original condition to worsen.
  • An admin error could mean you receive another patients test results resulting in a misdiagnosis.
  • A patient may be sent for diagnostic tests. However, hospital negligence may mean the tests are delayed unnecessarily.

However, it’s important to note that not all incidents of a condition being misdiagnosed will form the basis of a valid claim. In order to seek medical negligence compensation, you must be able to prove that a medical professional breached their duty of care and caused you unnecessary harm.

Could I Make A Medical Negligence Claim?

There are certain criteria your claim must meet in order to be valid, these include proving:

  • You were owed a duty of care by a medical practitioner.
  • They breached this duty of care by failing to uphold the correct standard of care.
  • You experienced avoidable harm as a result of the breach. This is known as medical negligence.

If you can prove medical negligence occurred, you could make lung cancer misdiagnosis compensation claim. To do so, you can take different steps to support your case, including gathering evidence.

Evidence can include doctor reports, hospital reports and prescriptions. Your solicitor may also arrange for you to have a medical assessment with an independent physician as part of the claims process. Solicitors can use the medical report from the assessment, which can give details on the nature and full extent of the harm you have sustained, to help them value your claim.

You may find it beneficial to hire a solicitor to help you through the process of seeking compensation. Our solicitors can offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. This means you won’t be required to pay for their services upfront or while the claim is ongoing. Additionally, they have experience handling medical negligence claims.

To learn whether one of our solicitors could handle your claim, get in touch on the number above.

How Long Do I Have To Make A Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim?

Under the Limitation Act 1980, the time limit for making a medical negligence claim is normally three years. The limitation period will normally begin on the date of the incident. However, it can also begin on the date you realised you experienced medical negligence.

There are exceptions to the typical three year time limit. For example, the time limit can be paused for those under the age of 18 and those who lack the mental capacity to claim. In these instances, a suitable person could apply to the courts to act as a litigation friend on their behalf.

If no claim is made on behalf of the child before they turn 18, they will have three years from the date of their 18th birthday. Similarly, if no claim is made on behalf of the person who lacks the mental capacity to claim and they recover, they will have three years to make their own claim for their recovery date.

To learn more about the time limits for medical negligence claims, get in touch on the number above.

Settlements For A Lung Cancer Misdiagnosis

If you make a successful claim for medical misdiagnosis or delays in treatment, your compensation payout can include up to two heads of claim.

  • General damages compensate for the pain and suffering caused by the harm sustained due to medical negligence. Consideration is also given to the impact on a person’s overall quality of life.
  • Special damages compensate for the financial losses caused by the harm sustained due to medical negligence. This can include loss of earnings if time has been taken off from work to recover.

We have referred to the latest edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to create the table below. You can use the table as an alternative to a compensation calculator as it includes compensation brackets from the JCG. Solicitors can use these to help them value the general damages portion of claims.

However, the figures are a guide because your payout may differ from the compensation amounts in the table.

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Harm Guideline Payout Notes
Lung Disease £100,670 to £135,920 Young person with a disability of a serious nature. There is a chance of the condition worsening and causing an early death.
Lung Disease £70,030 to £97,330 Lung cancer that causes severe pain. There is also an impact on the person’s function and quality of life.
Brain Damage £219,070 to £282,010 Moderately Severe: The person has a very serious disability.
Brain Damage £150,110 to £219,070 Moderate (i): A moderate to severe intellectual deficit, a change in personality and effect on the senses is present in this bracket.
Lung Disease £54,830 to £70,030 Restriction of employment and physical activity, impairment of breathing and significant worsening function.
Lung Disease £31,310 to £54,830 Causing breathing difficulty, and an uncertain prognosis. Requirement for inhaler, avoidance of smoky rooms.
Lung Disease £10,640 to £20,800 Slight breathlessness not impacting on work, with prognosis for substantial permanent recovery.
Lung Disease £5,320 to £18,090 Provisional awards with exclude malignancy risks.
Asbestos Related Disease £15,100 to £35,500 Asbestosis and plural thickening with up to 10% respiratory disability.

Please get in touch with us today for more information on how much compensation you can receive after succeeding in making a lung cancer misdiagnosis claim.

Start A Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you are eligible to claim for the misdiagnosis of lung cancer, you might wish to get help from a solicitor. They could assist you in helping to gather evidence, and could help negotiate a compensation settlement on your behalf.

Our solicitors can take on lung cancer misdiagnosis claims under a No Win No Fee arrangement, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This would mean you wouldn’t have to pay them upfront for their work. Furthermore, you would not pay them throughout the claims process.

Instead, should your case be successful, they would deduct a legally capped success fee from your payout. If your claim is unsuccessful, under a CFA, you would not have to pay for their work.

To learn whether one of our solicitors could assist with your claim under a CFA, you can contact an advisor. They will be glad to assess your case and advise you.

Related Medical Negligence Resources

Below, we have provided some additional guides that you may find helpful:

Additionally, we have provided some helpful external resources:

Please get in touch if you have more questions about lung cancer misdiagnosis claims.