Boyes Turner’s medical negligence solicitors secured a £1.4 million settlement in a fatal injury claim for the family of a 30-year-old man who died as a result of negligent hospital treatment for a tumour in his liver. The settlement followed a liability judgment at an earlier stage of the claim. Read more about the liability claim. Delayed follow up and referral after scan reveals growth in liver tumour Following an MRI scan of his liver, the young man had been diagnosed with focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), a benign tumour which usually does not increase in size or become malignant. After delays in planned follow-up a year later, he had requested a repeat ultrasound scan. The scan revealed that the FNH tumour had grown in size, and that he should be referred to the gastroenterology team for review, but no further action was taken until he contacted his GP a year later. The resulting further scans, investigations and review by gastroenterology and liver specialists revealed that his tumour had grown significantly and that his liver function was deteriorating. He suffered liver failure and died during hospital treatment. A biopsy, reported only after his death, revealed that the tumour in the liver was not FNH, but a hepatocellular adenoma. Claim leads to apology, admission, interim payment and £1.4 million compensation We investigated a medical negligence claim for the deceased’s widow and represented the family at the inquest. The hospital’s investigation into our client’s husband’s hospital treatment had been carried out by its own staff and concluded that they had provided acceptable care. Our independent medical expert disagreed with the hospital investigation’s conclusions. Instead, our expert believed that there had been negligent delays in referring our client’s husband for gastroenterological review, and that correct treatment with timely referral would have led to a liver biopsy and surgical resection of his liver, which would have avoided his death. We secured an apology for our client and an admission from NHS Resolution that the hospital had negligently failed to refer her husband to the gastroenterology team when the repeat ultrasound scan revealed that his tumour had grown, and that correct referral would have led to an earlier biopsy and surgery which would have avoided his death. We obtained a liability judgment and £70,000 interim payment for our client, whilst we worked with the family and our experts to value the claim. We then met with NHS Resolution at a round table meeting (RTM) and negotiated a £1.4m settlement for deceased’s widow and children. The infant settlement was approved by the court. The family’s privacy is protected by an anonymity order. If you or a member of your family have suffered severe injury as a result of medical negligence or you have been contacted by HSSIB/MNSI or NHS Resolution, you can talk to a solicitor, free and confidentially, for advice about how to respond or make a claim by contacting us.
