By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 3rd October 2024. In this guide, we will explain when you could be eligible to claim medical negligence compensation for a brain cancer misdiagnosis that caused you to suffer avoidable harm. The misdiagnosis of cancer could have various negative consequences, such as a worsened prognosis, as it could delay your treatment or cause you to receive the incorrect treatment. Therefore, this guide will explain the eligibility criteria that your case must meet for you to potentially make a medical negligence claim.
Some of the topics we will discuss include the time limits that may affect when you can start a medical negligence claim and the evidence you could gather to support your case. Furthermore, we will explain how compensation awards could be calculated for a successful medical misdiagnosis claim. We will also provide information about using the services of a No Win No Fee solicitor.
Continue reading our guide to learn more about medical misdiagnosis claims. Additionally, you can contact our team of advisers at any time for a free consultation, in which you can enquire about your potential claim. This can occur at any time of the day or night, as our advisers are available 24/7.
To get in touch, you can do the following:
- Complete our ‘Contact Us’ form
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Speak to an adviser using the live support window below
Browse Our Guide
- What Is The Eligibility To Claim For A Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- Causes Of Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis
- Evidence To Support Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Estimated Payouts For Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis
- Why Choose Our Specialist Solicitors For No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims?
- Find Out More About Claiming For Misdiagnosed Cancers
What Is The Eligibility To Claim For A Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Medical negligence occurs when a medical professional breaches the duty of care that they owe to you and, as a result of this breach, causes you to suffer avoidable harm.
All medical professionals owe a duty of care towards all of their patients. This means that they are expected to always provide their patients with the correct level of care. If the care provided falls below an acceptable standard and the patient suffers avoidable harm as a result, then this could be considered a breach of the duty of care.
You may be eligible to make a brain cancer misdiagnosis claim if you can establish the following:
- You were owed a duty of care by a medical professional, such as your GP.
- The duty of care was breached in some way. For example, you showed clear symptoms of brain cancer, such as seizures, headaches and regularly feeling sick, but your GP did not send you for further tests.
- You suffered avoidable harm because of the breach.
Not all cases of brain cancer misdiagnosis will mean a claim can be made. For example, if a medical professional provided you with the correct level of care, but a misdiagnosis occurred because you did not explain all of your symptoms, you may not be eligible to claim.
Limitation Periods For Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
An important piece of information to know about medical negligence claims is that they are subject to certain time limitations. This is outlined via the Limitation Act 1980, which states that you should begin this kind of claim:
- Within 3 years from the date when the medical negligence happened.
- Within 3 years from the date of knowledge, this can be when you learned of medical negligence in connection to the harm you suffered.
If you would like to enquire about exceptions to these time limits in connection to your potential claim, please speak to our team of advisers. Also, get in touch if you’d like more information about the medical negligence claims process.
Causes Of Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis
Various causes could lead to the occurrence of a cancer misdiagnosis. For example:
- Your doctor does not listen to you when you explain your symptoms and therefore fails to send you for further testing, despite your symptoms making this necessary. This leads to a misdiagnosis.
- A medical professional in a hospital mixes up your blood test results with those of another patient, meaning that you receive a diagnosis based on someone else’s test results.
It is important that cancer is diagnosed as quickly as possible, as cancerous cells can invade and destroy nearby healthy tissue, this includes organs. Brain tumours can cause varying symptoms depending on the affected part of the brain. This could include: mental or behavioural changes, vision problems, seizures and paralysis.
Speak to our advisers if you would like to discuss whether you could make a claim for medical negligence following a brain cancer misdiagnosis.
Evidence To Support Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
It is necessary to obtain evidence to prove medical negligence in a brain cancer misdiagnosis case. This could include:
- A copy of your medical records
- Copies of test results or scans
- Prescriptions
- A diary recording the avoidable harm you suffered
- Witness contact details
It is also advisable that you seek legal advice regarding your potential claim. Contact a member of our team to learn more about the evidence you could gather to strengthen a medical negligence claim.
Estimated Payouts For Brain Cancer Misdiagnosis
An award for a successful medical negligence claim could be comprised of up to two heads. These are normally called general damages and special damages.
General damages compensates you for the medical negligence. To help assess this head of claim, a solicitor may refer to a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document containing compensation bracket guidelines for different kinds of injuries.
We have used the JCG to create the following table as a guide. Each claim is different; therefore, the amount awarded will vary depending on the details of the case. Please note that the figure in the top row was not taken from the JCG.
Compensation Guidelines
| Type of Harm | Severity | Guideline Compensation Brackets |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries of a serious nature plus financial losses | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia (a) | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 | |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 | |
| Moderate (c) (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | |
| Less severe (d) | £18,700 to £52,550 | |
| Epilepsy | Established grand mal (a) | £124,470 to £183,190 |
| Established petite mal (b) | £66,920 to £160,360 |
Are Special Damages Awarded In Medical Negligence Claims?
For a successful medical negligence claim, you could also receive special damages, which is the second head of claim. This reimburses for the financial losses incurred due to medical negligence. For example, loss of earnings, care costs and travel expenses.
It is important to note that you will be required to deliver evidence of these losses to support your claim. This could include travel tickets, payslips and invoices.
Contact our team of advisers if you would like to receive a personalised estimation of the medical negligence compensation you could be eligible to receive following a brain cancer misdiagnosis.
Why Choose Our Specialist Solicitors For No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims?
If you contact our team of advisers and allow them to carry out an evaluation of your claim, they may find that you could be eligible to pursue compensation. In this case, they could connect you with one of the medical negligence solicitors we have available.
Our solicitors may offer to work on your claim under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a kind of No Win No Fee agreement. Working with a No Win No Fee solicitor under a CFA means that you won’t pay upfront for their services, nor will you pay for these for the duration of your ongoing claim. Also, you typically don’t pay for their services at any time if your claim does fail.
A No Win No Fee solicitor can take a small success fee from the compensation if your claim is successful. This percentage is subject to a cap under the relevant legislation. Therefore, you always receive the majority of the compensation.
If you’d like to discuss the process of making a medical negligence claim following a brain cancer misdiagnosis, contact our team of advisers today. They can answer the questions you may have and provide further information about the services that our solicitors can offer.
To get in touch, you can do the following:
- Complete our ‘Contact Us’ form
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Speak to an adviser using the live support window below
Find Out More About Claiming For Misdiagnosed Cancers
Further guides from our website:
- When Could You Claim For The Misdiagnosis Of Lung Cancer?
- Cancer Misdiagnosed As Kidney Stones – Medical Negligence Claims Guide
- How To Make A Claim Against A Hospital
External resources:
- Brain Tumour – Information and support from Macmillan
- Good Medical Practice – Guidance for doctors from the General Medical Council (GMC)
- Treatment for Brain Tumours – Information from Cancer Research UK
- Get information on how to sue a hospital for a hospital-acquired infection with our guide.
