By Stephen Lambert. Last Updated 1st August 2024. Pancreatic cancer can affect anyone, but a pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis due to negligence can have fatal consequences. If your cancer has been negligently misdiagnosed by a medical professional, you could experience delayed treatment and worsening symptoms. In some cases, you may find that your cancer has spread to the extent that treatment is no longer effective.
In this guide, we’ll talk about what medical negligence is and the circumstances that could entitle you to make a claim. We will also look at how legal representation could be beneficial to your claim and how a No Win No Fee agreement could help you fund this.
To learn more, get in touch today by:
- Calling us on 0800 652 3087
- Starting your claim online
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Select A Section
- What Is A Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- What Is The Time Limit For Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims?
- How Could A Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis Happen?
- How Much Compensation Could I Get For My Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim?
- How Medical Negligence Assist Can Help You Claim Compensation
What Is A Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Pancreatic cancer is cancer anywhere in the pancreas, which is an organ in the abdomen that t helps create digestive juices and hormones. However, if cancerous cells begin to develop, these can then spread to the bowels and other organs. When cancer is misdiagnosed, this can give it the opportunity to spread throughout the body due to delayed treatment.
However, not every case of a misdiagnosis can form the basis of a claim. To claim for pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis, you must have suffered harm as a result of medical negligence. This means that your misdiagnosis must be a result of a medical professional breaching the duty of care that they owed you.
Each and every medical professional owes all of their patients a duty of care. This means that the treatment they provide to each patient they have should meet a minimum standard of care. The General Medical Council (GMC) have outlined the duties that good doctors should follow to adhere to their duty of care. If they fail to deliver the correct standard of care, and you suffer some kind of harm as a result of this, you may have valid grounds to start a medical negligence claim.
Call or message our team of advisors today to find out if you could have a valid clinical negligence claim.
What Is The Time Limit For Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims?
The time limit for beginning a medical negligence claim for the misdiagnosis of cancer is usually three years. This is established in a piece of legislation called the Limitation Act 1980. This time limit for starting a claim will begin either from whichever date you were misdiagnosed or the date when it would have been expected for you to have realised that the misdiagnosis has happened. The latter is often referred to as the date of knowledge.
The time limit for pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claims does work differently for any children under the age of 18 as well as those who are lacking sufficient mental capacity to handle their own case. For children, the time limit won’t start until the day of their 18th birthday. However, before this day comes, a litigation friend could instead make a cancer misdiagnosis claim on behalf of the child.
In scenarios where the person affected by the misdiagnosis of pancreatic cancer lacks the mental capacity to start a misdiagnosis claim, the time limit will instead be frozen indefinitely. A litigation friend could alternatively make a medical negligence claim on behalf of the party affected by the misdiagnosis instead. If, however, this person recovers their mental capacity to the point where they are capable of managing their own case at a future point, then the time limit will instead start on the day of recovery.
To learn more about your eligibility to start a pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claim, please get in touch with our team of advisors today.
How Could A Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis Happen?
As we mentioned above, not all cases of pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis form the basis of a successful claim. Sometimes, misdiagnosis happens even when the care you receive meets the standard expected. However, if you have suffered further harm due to a misdiagnosis caused by medical negligence, you could potentially make a claim.
Some examples of how negligence can contribute to misdiagnosis include:
- Lost medical records: Your medical records hold important information. If they are misplaced, your doctor may not have access to the essential facts needed to make a diagnosis.
- Failure to make a referral: If you show clear symptoms of pancreatic cancer and your doctor or GP fails to refer you for further testing or to see a specialist, they may be considered negligent.
- Failure to identify: Your doctor may refer you for further testing. Following this, if your scans or biopsies show signs of cancerous growth and your doctor fails to identify this, their failure to make a diagnosis could result from negligence.
How Can I Prove My Compensation Claim?
There are steps you can take following your misdiagnosis due to medical negligence that can help strengthen your pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claim, including:
- Gather evidence: Gathering evidence of negligence or the harm you suffered can help support your claim. This can include evidence such as medical records or notes, prescriptions, and other written documentation of your treatment or mistreatment.
- Keep a symptoms diary: Keeping a symptoms diary can be helpful, as it records any worsening of symptoms due to suspected negligence. You will only be able to claim if the negligence harmed you or caused your symptoms to worsen.
- Get legal advice: We always recommend consulting a legal professional and getting legal advice before starting a claim. Medicine and law are complex subjects; having a legal professional with experience in these areas work on your claim could help you.
Our advisors can provide free legal advice and further information regarding negligence in misdiagnosis, and how to make a claim. Contact us today by following the information at the bottom of the screen.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For My Pancreatic Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim?
If you are considering making a medical negligence claim, you might be wondering what the average settlement is for cancer misdiagnosis. This is difficult to calculate, as compensation varies on a case-by-case basis. However, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) can provide a broad estimate of what your pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claim could be worth.
The JCG provides guideline compensation brackets for a list of injuries and illnesses and is often used by legal professionals to value claims. We’ve compiled some of these figures in the compensation calculator table below, so you can estimate what your claim could potentially be worth.
Injury Type Notes Compensation Bracket
Multiple illnesses or injuries and special damages In cases where you're eligible to claim for multiple illnesses or injuries caused by medical negligence, you could receive a payout covering all of them as well as any related special damages, such as the cost of home care you've required. Up to £250,000+
Bowel Injuries (b) Loss of natural function with dependence on colostomy. Up to £183,190
Bowel Injuries (c) Faecal urgency and incontinence after surgey. In the region of £97,530
Kidney Injuries (b) Significant risk of future UTI or other loss of kidney function. Up to £78,080
Kidney Injuries (c) Loss of one kidney with no damage to the other. £37,550 to £54,760
Spleen Injuries (a) Loss of spleen with continuing risk of internal infection. £25,380 to £32,090
Moderate Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (c) Cases of large recovery, with no grossly disabling effects continuing. £9,980 to £28,250
Less Severe PTSD (d) Virtually full recovery within around two years, with only minor symptoms remaining. £4,820 to £9,980
Moderate Psychiatric Damage (c) Problems coping with work, life and education, but with a good prognosis and improvement over time. £7,150 to £23,270
Less Severe Psychiatric Damage (d) Consideration given to length of disability and severity of symptoms. £1,880 to £7,150
There are two heads of claim you can pursue when you make a medical negligence claim: general damages and special damages.
General damages cover your initial injury and the physical and mental impact it has had on you. The figures in the table above cover general damages amounts. Special damages cover any financial losses you might incur due to your injuries.
For example, if you have to travel to and from appointments, you could claim back the costs of this. Or, if you need additional childcare or domestic help, this could also be covered by special damages.
However, you could provide evidence of these losses to claim them back. As such, it can be helpful to keep any receipts or bills you receive during this time.
Our advisors can provide you with a free estimate of what your claim could be worth when you get in touch today. Furthermore, if you have a valid pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claim, they could provide you with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.
How Medical Negligence Assist Can Help You Claim Compensation
If you contact our advisors, they can offer free legal advice and help start your claim. If your claim is valid, they may be able to forward you to our panel of personal injury solicitors.
Our expert panel of No Win No Fee solicitors can provide legal representation without the financial risk usually associated with this. They can do so by offering a No Win No Fee service, the formal name for which is a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When you work with a solicitor with a CFA in place, you do not need to pay fees to your solicitor upfront, nor do you have to pay anything as the claim is ongoing. If your claim succeeds, they will take a success fee from your award. However, if your claim does not succeed, you will pay nothing to your No Win No Fee solicitor.
To find out how our expert panel of personal injury solicitors can help you start your pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claim, get in touch today by:
- Calling us on 0800 652 3087
- Starting your claim online
- Using the live chat feature
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- How Long Does A Medical Negligence Claim Take?
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