Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims

This guide will explain how to claim compensation for a bladder cancer misdiagnosis. Bladder cancer happens when cancerous tumours develop in the bladder. Unfortunately, if a patient does not receive a prompt diagnosis and treatment for their bladder cancer, it can worsen over time.

A guide to claiming after a bladder cancer misdiagnosis

So if a doctor misdiagnoses a patient’s bladder cancer, they may experience unnecessary pain and suffering. The patient may need a more aggressive form of treatment for their cancer, such as chemotherapy. Sadly, a patient may die a preventable death in some cases because of the delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of bladder cancer.

Can you claim compensation for misdiagnosis? You may be eligible to claim compensation for any injuries caused by bladder cancer misdiagnosis; however, that’s providing that the misdiagnosis was caused by negligence. For example, you had clear symptoms but a medical professional ignored them.

For more information on your eligibility to claim, why not get in touch with our advisors? They’re available 24/7. If you have a valid, favourable claim, they could connect you to our panel of solicitors who work on a No Win No Fee basis. However, you’ll be under no obligation to proceed with their services if you get in touch.

To see if you can begin your claim, please get in touch with Medical Negligence Assist today:

Please call us on 0800 652 3087
Or use our online claims form to begin

Select A Section

How Can A Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Happen?
Types Of Bladder Cancer
What Are The Symptoms Of Bladder Cancer?
Diagnosis And Treatment Of Bladder Cancer
Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Compensation Calculator
Get Advice On Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims

How Can A Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Happen?

As we have already mentioned, the misdiagnosis of bladder cancer can harm a patient. You could claim compensation for bladder cancer misdiagnosis under the following circumstances:

Firstly the doctor that treated you owed you a duty of care. (All legitimate doctors owe their patients a duty of care).
Secondly, the doctor breached their duty of care. (Essentially, medical negligence caused the misdiagnosis of your bladder cancer.)
And finally, there is evidence that the cancer misdiagnosis harmed you. For example, your condition may have worsened because your doctor misdiagnosed your bladder cancer.

All medical professionals owe their patients a certain level of care. If their care falls below this standard, they’d be breaching their duty.

It is important to remember that medical negligence must have occurred for you to claim compensation. For example, a doctor may have failed to carry out the correct tests to rule out bladder cancer. Please feel free to call our helpline, and an advisor can let you know if you are eligible to claim.

Bladder Cancer Statistics

Let’s look at how common bladder cancer is in the UK:

On average, there were 10,292 new cases of bladder cancer a year from 2016 to 2018.
And there were 5,485 deaths from bladder cancer a year from 2016 to 2018.
In England, 46% of people living with bladder cancer survived the disease for 10 or more years between 2013 – 2017.
And 49% of bladder cancer cases in 2015 were preventable.

Cancer Research UK has more bladder cancer statistics.

SOURCE: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/bladder-cancer

Types Of Bladder Cancer

The most common type of bladder cancer is urothelial bladder cancer. It’s also known as transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). It begins in cells of the bladder lining.

Early-stage bladder cancer is when cancer develops in the lining of the bladder. If doctors diagnose bladder cancer early, it can be easier to treat. This is also known as non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

If cancer has spread to the muscle layer of the bladder, this is known as muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Advanced or metastatic bladder cancer is when the bladder cancer spreads to other parts of the body.

Types of bladder cancer include:

Transitional cell bladder cancer
Squamous cell bladder cancer
Adenocarcinoma
Sarcoma
Small cell bladder cancer

What Are The Symptoms Of Bladder Cancer?

A bladder cancer misdiagnosis can happen because a GP fails to recognise the symptoms of bladder cancer. And consequently, the doctor does not send the patient for tests. Symptoms of bladder cancer include the following:

Blood in your urine, which may come and go
You experience a sudden urge to urinate
A burning sensation when passing urine

If you have advanced bladder cancer, you may experience the following symptoms:

Swelling in your legs
Pain in your pelvis
Pain in your bones
Unintended weight loss

Please seek the appropriate medical advice if you have the above symptoms.

Risk Factors

People who meet the following criteria are more likely to develop bladder cancer:

People who smoke are four times more likely to develop bladder cancer than people who do not.
Workers who have come into contact with banned carcinogenic industrial chemicals may be more likely to develop bladder cancer.
Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy to treat other types of cancer may be more at risk of developing bladder cancer.

Diagnosis And Treatment Of Bladder Cancer

If a patient experiences symptoms such as blood in their urine, they should go to their GP. Their GP may send them for diagnostic tests. The patient may undergo tests to diagnose bladder cancer, including imaging scans and biopsies.

Examples of how medical negligence can lead to a bladder cancer misdiagnosis:

GP negligence can occur. The GP may fail to recognise the symptoms of bladder cancer (even though they’re clear) and fail to refer a patient to the hospital for tests.
Hospital negligence can include misinterpretation of X-rays, despite them clearly indicating cancer.
Or a doctor may fail to carry out all the tests necessary to rule out bladder cancer, even though the patient’s symptoms suggest they are suffering due to cancer.

Treatment for bladder cancer varies, depending on how serious the condition is. The medical team may give the patient chemotherapy, radiotherapy, an operation, or other treatments, for example.

Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Compensation Calculator

If you win your medical negligence claim, you could receive the following heads of claim:

General damages that compensate you for your pain and suffering.
Special damages reimburse you for the expenses associated with your injuries.

You can use the table below as a compensation calculator to estimate how much your general damages payment could be. We have used guidelines from the Judicial College to create the compensation payments in the table. Medical negligence solicitors use these guidelines to help them value compensation settlements.

Types Of Injury	Damages	Notes
Bladder Injury (A)	Up to £172,860	Bladder injuries which involve double incontinence. There is the loss of natural bowel function as well as urinary control and urinary function.
Bladder Injury (B)	Up to £132,040	Complete (total) loss of bladder control and function.
Bladder Injury (C)	£60,050 to £75,010	Bladder control is seriously impaired. There is some pain and incontinence.
Bladder Injury (D)	£21,970 to £29,380	The person has made a recovery though there is some long term interference with this person's natural function.
Moderate Psychiatric Injury	£5,500 to £17,900	Victims suffer problems with areas of their life such as their work, personal relationships and other areas. The victim should have made a degree of recovery by the time a claim goes to trial.
Less Severe Psychiatric Injury	£1,440 to £5,500	This person should already have made a good degree of recovery. Damages are based on how long symptoms did persist for and how severe they were.

Many factors can influence how much compensation you receive, so please contact us for a personalised quote.

Get Advice On Bladder Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims

Our panel of solicitors could manage your compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis. When you make a No Win No Fee claim, you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement. A Conditional Fee Agreement means that you are charged a success fee if your claim is successful. You won’t have to pay a success fee if you lose your claim.

Here are some of the benefits of making a No Win No Fee claim:

You don’t have to worry about funding the services of your solicitor upfront.
The solicitor would deduct the success fee from your payout as a legally capped percentage if you win your claim.

To see if you can begin your No Win No fee claim, please get in touch with us today:

Call 0800 652 3087 to reach our claims helpline
Or begin your claim online today
On the other hand, you can ask us a question directly using our support widget

Resources

Please feel free to read these online resources to find out more about claiming compensation for clinical negligence.

How To Make A Breast Cancer Negligence Claim

How To Report Medical Negligence By A GP, Doctor, Dentist Or Hospital

Illness Or Injuries Caused By Negligent Blood Testing Compensation Claims

Advice on what to do, if you have blood in your urine

A guide to bladder cancer from NHS Scotland

An NHS guide to bladder stones

Other Misdiagnosis Claims

Thank you for reading our guide to bladder cancer misdiagnosis.

Guide by Hana

Edited by Ruth