Our guide discusses thyroid cancer misdiagnosis and when you can claim medical negligence compensation for the effects of a healthcare professional giving you negligent treatment. We begin by outlining how a compensation payout for a cancer misdiagnosis claim is calculated.
Medical negligence involves a healthcare professional providing a substandard level of care and causing you to sustain avoidable harm. We discuss what thyroid cancer is and how a misdiagnosis could occur due to medical negligence.
You can also learn when thyroid cancer misdiagnosis claims can be made, and how our panel of medical negligence solicitors helps people seek financial compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you have any other questions about medical negligence claims, call 0800 408 7826 or contact us online to arrange a completely free consultation.
Jump To A Section
- Compensation Calculator For Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis
- What Is Thyroid Cancer?
- When Can You Make A Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim?
- Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis Stories
- How Do You Make A No Win No Fee Misdiagnosis Claim?
- Read More About Making Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
Compensation Calculator For Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis
Before we explain when and how you can claim, you may be wondering what medical negligence compensation you can get if your case is successful. A compensation payout for a thyroid cancer misdiagnosis claim can be formed of up to two parts, known as heads of loss.
One head is called general damages. It compensates for physical harm and mental suffering brought on by medical negligence. Those working out how much compensation you receive for general damages could look at medical evidence. They may also look at the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This document features guideline compensation brackets for various types of harm.
Compensation Table
Our table contains a series of entries from the JCG. However, the top line is not from this document. As every medical negligence compensation claim is different, these figures are not a guarantee of what you would receive in a settlement.
You can use this table as an alternative to our compensation calculator.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION GUIDELINES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and/or Illnesses Plus Financial Damage | Very Serious | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation addressing multiple serious illnesses and/or injuries, in addition to out of pocket expenses like lost earnings, medical costs and prescription fees. |
| Lung Disease | For A Young Person With Serious Disability | £100,670 to £135,920 | It is probable that the disease will progressively worsen and lead to premature death. |
| Lung Cancer, Typically In An Older Person | £70,030 to £97,330 | The disease causes severe pain. Both function and quality of life are impaired. | |
| Neck | Severe (iii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | Includes severe soft tissue injuries and/or ruptured tendons. Chronic conditions and permanent, significant disability ensue. |
| Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Among the injuries in this bracket are serious soft tissue injuries affecting the neck and back together. | |
| Moderate (ii) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Cases featuring a soft tissue or wrenching-type injury. Complications include a serious limitation of movement and permanent, recurring pain. |
Special Damages
People who suffer due to medical malpractice may be affected financially as well. With that in mind, the special damages head of claim exists to compensate for financial losses that medical negligence causes.
This could include:
- Medical bills, such as the cost of medicine such as hormone pills.
- Travel expenses.
- A loss of earnings if your unable to work.
If you’d like to learn more about payouts for cancer misdiagnosis claims, just call us today. Our advisors can discuss how calculating compensation for medical negligence works and what you could be compensated for.
What Is Thyroid Cancer?
The thyroid is a small gland in the neck which plays an important role in helping things like your digestion, muscles, and heart. The charity Cancer Research UK provides helpful statistics that indicate that 9% of thyroid cancer cases are preventable.
The most common types of thyroid cancers are:
- Papillary thyroid cancer.
- Follicular cancer.
- Oncocytic cell cancer.
- Medullary cancer.
- Anaplastic cancer.
When left untreated, the cancer can spread to other parts of the body including the lungs. As such, a thyroid cancer misdiagnosis could have serious and even life-threatening ramifications.
When Can You Make A Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis Claim?
Throughout the whole process, from when you first talk to your GP to when your treatment is carried out, you are in the care of medical professionals. They each owe you a duty of care, which means that they must meet the professional standards expected of them.
A thyroid cancer misdiagnosis can happen for several reasons. However, if it comes about because the symptoms of thyroid cancer were missed or testing was delayed through substandard care, the medical practitioner involved could be liable for any unnecessary harm that follows.
For example, if a GP fails to listen to you explain symptoms of thyroid cancer and does not refer you for the correct tests, they could be at fault if an untreated papillary carcinoma causes irreparable damage.
You can make a medical negligence claim if you’re able to show that:
- A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
- They failed to provide care to the correct standard and breached their duty.
- As a result of this, you suffered avoidable harm.
Time Limits For Making Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
Generally speaking, the time limit for starting a medical negligence claim is three years from when medical negligence occurred. However, this fact is not always immediately apparent. Therefore, the three-year window, which is set out by The Limitation Act 1980, could alternatively start on the date that the link between a breach of duty and avoidable harm becomes known.
Other factors may call for the time limit to change in particular cases. To learn how long you have to claim compensation for a thyroid cancer misdiagnosis, just call our free helpline today.
Thyroid Cancer Misdiagnosis Stories
If a negligent failure to diagnose thyroid cancer occurs, it can have a significant effect on the person’s life. Among the examples to appear in national news was the case of former Love Island star Demi Jones, who says she was told in 2019 that her thyroid lump was a ‘harmless nodule’.
Her wait to have thyroid cancer treated, after further tests finally brought back a delayed diagnosis, meant that her thyroid was ultimately removed. The surgery means that she will take hormone medicine for the rest of her life.
In another case, Courtney Nettleton’s symptoms were dismissed as those of ‘teenage laziness’. But her fatigue, breathing issues and other symptoms were all signs of a more serious problem. After further testing, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. A second error led Courtney to believe that the cancer had cleared, before this was corrected and she entered rounds of surgery and radioiodine treatment.
In both cases, Demi and Courtney suffered a missed diagnosis that led to both of them suffering the stress of late and extensive treatment.
Some patients may find that a wrong diagnosis or a delay in acting on abnormal test results may lead to significant physical or mental harm that could have been avoided with timely care. However, diagnosing thyroid cancer incorrectly is not necessarily grounds for a thyroid cancer misdiagnosis claim. You need to prove medical negligence occurred in order to claim compensation.
Our advisors can discuss the eligibility criteria for cancer misdiagnosis claims in more detail and assess whether you have the right to seek compensation.
News sources:
https://www.capitalfm.com/news/love-island-demi-jones-cancer
https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/08/womans-tiredness-was-dismissed-as-laziness-but-she-had-cancer-17322411/
How Do You Make A No Win No Fee Misdiagnosis Claim?
If you’ve been avoidably harmed because of a negligent cancer diagnosis error, you may wish to seek out dedicated legal support. A medical negligence solicitor from our panel of experts could agree to take on your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
As a type of No Win No Fee deal, this agreement means you don’t pay for the solicitor’s work if the case loses. You will also not be required to pay solicitor fees upfront or during the case, regardless of how it turns out.
A CFA means the solicitor collects a success fee if the thyroid cancer misdiagnosis claim is successful. This success fee can only be a minor percentage of the compensation you get because of a legal cap put in place by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
If you’d like to discuss thyroid cancer negligence compensation further, get in touch any time by either calling 0800 408 7826 or going online to contact us and request a call.
Our advisors will be on hand to answer your questions and could even connect you to one of our panel’s specialist medical negligence solicitors. However, there is no obligation to start a claim with us even if we find that you can.
Read More About Making Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
You can get more information through our other guides:
- Our explanation of how pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis claims work.
- This compensation calculator for misdiagnosis of lung cancer discusses what you could claim.
- Learn about breast cancer misdiagnosis compensation with our calculator guide.
These resources may also help:
- NHS information on thyroid cancer and where to get help.
- Guidance on how to get help from Macmillan Cancer Support.
- Also from the NHS is this summary of how you can request a copy of your health records from a GP.
We hope our guide to claiming for thyroid cancer misdiagnosis has helped you today. Remember, you can call our 24/7 helpline whenever you like for free advice about claiming compensation and we’ll be ready to help.