What happened: Our client attended their GP with a lump in their thigh and were advised that it was lipoma (a non-cancerous fatty lump). There was no onward referral. They returned to their GP approximately 1 year later, whereupon they were told that the lump was a torn muscle. A further year later the GP advised that the lump was due to a varicose vein. However, our client was referred to hospital and underwent an ultrasound and MRI prior to being told the lump was actually sarcoma cancer. There had been a delay in diagnosis of approximately 3 years.

The effect on our client: Our client endured additional pain, suffering and loss of amenity for the period of the delay in diagnosis and required surgery to remove the sarcoma, leaving significant scarring. The tumour had a very slow doubling time of 600 days, which meant our client had a much better prognosis than would otherwise have been expected. The treatment they received would have been the same in any event, however had the diagnosis not been delayed the tumour excised would have been smaller and our client would have required less time off work to recover post-operatively.

How True Solicitors were able to help: We brought a claim on behalf of our client on the grounds that the lump had not been properly assessed when our client first presented to their GP. There was also a misdiagnosis of lipoma and muscle rupture and a failure to refer for a specialist opinion, particularly when the lump was noted to be growing in size.  Liability was denied by the Defendant however following detailed medical investigation we were able to negotiate a very good settlement for our client prior to matters becoming protracted.

Level of settlement achieved: £75,000