A court has rejected a woman’s request for a second trial in her case against the HSE over treatment at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Ms Catriona Crumlish (42) of St Finian’s Park, Moville, Co Donegal, appealed a High Court decision against a medical negligence claim arising from a breast cancer diagnosis in 2017.
Ms Crumlish sought damages, including €3.6 million in special damages, for injuries she alleged were caused by doctors at Letterkenny University Hospital failing to diagnose her breast cancer in May 2017.
Ms Crumlish was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in October 2017. She responded very well to treatment but claimed that had her cancer been diagnosed sooner, she would have undergone less treatment and less extensive surgery.
A two and a half year case found that there was no medical negligence on the part of doctors at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty ruled that Ms Crumlish’s evidence failed to establish that she had a tumour of 15mm in May 2017, which she claimed was not detected until October.
Defence for the HSE said there was no detectable cancer in May other than cysts.
The judge ruled that Ms Crumlish’s cancerous tumour “probably was present in May” but was “probably undetectable at that point”. She was originally referred to the Letterkenny breast clinic by her GP who felt two hard lumps on her right breast – one comparable in size to a pea, the other to a peppercorn.
Ms Crumlish was examined at the hospital in May 2017 by breast surgeon Mr Michael Sugrue, who noted a 15mm pea-sized lump and could not palpate the smaller, peppercorn-sized lump. He then referred the patient to radiology, where Dr Conal Mac a Bhaird reported: “multiple small cysts up to 12mm”. Mr Sugrue reassured the patient that she had cysts and, while they might change size, she should not worry.
Ms Crumlish’s evidence was based on an academic paper based on tumour doubling time. Once that evidence was rejected, the Court of Appeal ruled that the case failed at the first causation hurdle.
Mr. Justice Noonan, on 15th October, ruled that the High Court judge was correct in rejecting the evidence.
Mr Noonan gave the provisional view that the defendant should be entitled to the costs of the appeal. Mr Crumlish was given 14 days to contend for an alternative order.