Lasted updated 09/07/2025
We can probably all agree that receiving a diagnosis of leukaemia would be life-changing. However, it could be even worse if your leukaemia was misdiagnosed, which left you needing more invasive treatment or a poorer prognosis.
Not all misdiagnoses result from medical negligence. In some circumstances, it may be the case that the symptoms that you were experiencing did not align with the textbook signs. However, if it was due to a medical professional being negligent and you experienced otherwise avoidable harm, it may be possible to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim.
Throughout this guide, we will take you through the claims process and explain all about clinical negligence. We begin by explaining what leukaemia misdiagnosis is, together with the key factors in determining what could be included in your claim should it be successful.
At the end of this guide, learn how our experienced solicitors will ensure the claims process runs smoothly on a No Win No Fee basis.
Contact us today using the details below to speak with a member of our team and discuss your situation:
- Call on 0800 073 8804
- Use our ‘contact us‘ form
- Live chat available
Select A Section From Our Guide
- What Is A Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Claim?
- What Is Leukaemia?
- How Could Leukaemia Be Misdiagnosed?
- What Is The Time Limit When Claiming Misdiagnosis Compensation?
- What Do I Need To Make A Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Claim?
- How Much Compensation For A Blood Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- Claim For Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- More Useful Resources About Medical Negligence Claims
What Is A Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Claim?
Medical professionals have a duty towards their patients to provide a level of care that meets minimum expected standards. Should the medical professional act negligently, breaching their duty of care and causing unnecessary harm, then a claim may be possible.
In order to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim, we need to establish:
- Was there a duty of care owed by the medical professional to the patient?
- Did the medical professional’s negligent act breach their duty of care?
- Did the negligent act lead to a misdiagnosis that caused you unnecessary harm?
If you have suffered from a leukaemia misdiagnosis, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Call our team to learn more about how we can help you.
What Is Leukaemia?
Leukaemia is a kind of blood cancer which affects the blood cells in your bone marrow. The bone marrow is the spongy tissue present inside some bones, where blood cells are formed. When a person has leukaemia, there is either a lack or an excess of blood cells that don’t function properly.
This disease has different types that can feature in leukaemia misdiagnosis compensation claims:
- Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML): This is a rapidly growing type of leukaemia that requires urgent treatment.
- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL): This type of cancer affects the lymphoblasts, a specific type of white blood cell in the bone marrow.
- Hairy Cell Leukaemia: This is a slow-growing cancer which affects the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL): While this type of cancer also affects the lymphocytes, it is a chronic condition which grows slowly over the years.
The symptoms you experience may depend on the type of leukaemia and whether its growth is slow or fast. Some symptoms include:
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Repeated infections or fever with a longer recovery time.
- Long-term fatigue which doesn’t improve with rest.
- Bruising or bleeding that occurs more easily, or bleeding that takes a long time to stop.
- Breathlessness
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Chronic headaches
- Loss of appetite
Due to the overlap of these symptoms with other types of infections or ailments, there is a high risk of misdiagnosis. In some cases, this may result from leukaemia negligence on the part of a medical professional or facility, like a hospital.
If you believe you have suffered unnecessarily as a result of a wrong diagnosis of leukaemia, please don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss your case and get a free consultation from one of our advisors. You can also read ahead to learn how to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim.
How Is Leukaemia Diagnosed?
Leukaemia is diagnosed by having blood tests. If your GP suspects you have a condition affecting your blood or that you are suffering from anything sinister, it is often good practice to send you for tests to check:
- A patient’s general health.
- Find out if a specific condition.
- It will confirm how well a condition is being managed and/or treated.
Once the blood has been taken, it will be sent to a laboratory for testing and diagnosis. If the blood tests show anything concerning, the GP can send you for further specialist testing. It may be that the specialist conducts further testing, such as taking a small sample of your bone marrow to examine under a microscope. This procedure is known as a bone marrow biopsy.
How Could Leukaemia Be Misdiagnosed?
Some examples of leukaemia misdiagnosis could be:
- If a doctor and/or nurse has failed to listen to their patient, who has clearly explained their symptoms and did not send the patient for blood tests.
- A misdiagnosis of pneumonia and/or lung disease after presenting to the medical professional with coughing, and the GP failing to send the patient for a blood test.
- A GP receives the blood tests and misinterprets the results.
If you feel that you have received a misdiagnosis from a medical professional, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to find out if you could make a misdiagnosis compensation claim.
What Is The Time Limit When Claiming Misdiagnosis Compensation?
The Limitation Act 1980 sets out a 3-year time limit within which the claim must be started, also known as the limitation period. However, medical negligence claims have potentially 2 different time limits, where those 3 years run from:
- When the medical negligence act occurred, alternatively
- When the patient would have been aware that medical negligence had occurred
However, in certain circumstances, the court will make exceptions where a pause is placed on time limits:
- If the patient is a minor (under the age of 18). Those under the age of 18 can not legally make their own claim, so the time limit is paused until their 18th birthday.
- If a person lacks the mental capacity to make their own claim, the time limit is paused unless they recover. If that happens, then the 3 years apply from the date of that recovery.
In both instances, when the time limit is paused, there is an option for a litigation friend to be instructed to run the claim on behalf of someone else. A litigation friend is a responsible adult who can make decisions on behalf of the claimant, always with the individual’s best interest in mind.
Our specialist solicitor can assist you in making an application to the court to become a litigation friend. You can contact our advisors today to learn more about time limits and receive free advice with no obligation.
What Do I Need To Make A Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Claim?
In order to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim, we need to prove the misdiagnosis was negligent and caused avoidable harm.
When making a claim for a leukaemia misdiagnosis, it is essential to gather as much evidence as possible, which can sometimes be challenging. However, our solicitors have extensive experience helping clients with this task. Some types of evidence that they recommend for medical negligence claims include:
- Medical records covering reports, treatments, symptoms, and notes from
- Records of any specialist appointments, surgeons, phlebotomists, and treatment providers
- Witness details (this could be a person who assisted you when receiving the misdiagnosis)
- A diary of everything that has happened before, during and after the misdiagnosis
We understand that receiving a misdiagnosis of leukaemia is stressful enough, and being asked to collect all this evidence is just another burden you could do without. However, as previously mentioned, our legal team are here for you to try and take the stress out of making a compensation claim.
We’re here to help, so please call our advisors for a free, no-obligation consultation.
How Much Compensation For Blood Cancer Misdiagnosis?
It is difficult to confirm the amount of compensation that you could receive for a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim.
There are both general damages and special damages that could be awarded in a medical negligence compensation claim. General damages compensate for your pain and suffering, including any mental harm suffered. Whilst special damages could reimburse you for the financial impact of that harm.
Your medical condition will be confirmed by an independent medical professional who will, in turn, provide a medical report which will have a prognosis period (how long it will take for you to recover) and confirm if you require any other treatments and/or assessments.
Those responsible for valuing your general damages will use your medical report and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to inform their assessment. This document is often used because it provides suggested compensation brackets for various forms of harm, based on their type and severity.
In the table below, we’ve included some JCG brackets for guidance purposes only. Please note that the first figure isn’t from that publication.
| Harm | Severity | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple forms of very severe harm including numerous special damages (e.g. cost of private medical treatments) | Very severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain | Very severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderately severe | £267,340 to £344,150 | |
| Moderate (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | |
| Moderate (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 | |
| Back | Severe (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Moderate (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 | |
| Psychiatric damage generally | Severe (a) | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately severe (b) | £23,270 to £66,920 | |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Severe (a) | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately severe (b) | £28,250 to £73,050 |
Special Damages Examples
Examples of special damages can include:
- Loss of earnings – we would request you keep wage slips for the time period you want to claim for
- Travel costs – we recommend keeping hold of receipts, travel tickets, including parking tickets
- Medical expenses – This could include the cost of prescriptions, private treatment, and any other medical expenses that have been recommended.
- Care & assistance – whether it be from a care professional or a member of the family
Can I Claim For Loss of Earnings Caused By Medical Misdiagnosis?
As previously mentioned, you can claim for loss of earnings under special damages. The defendant will request evidence of wages for the 3 weeks preceding the misdiagnosis and the 3 weeks following it, which will enable them to calculate an average loss they believe you have incurred. However, there can be circumstances where a person would have been offered overtime and bonuses, so this will also be taken into account.
If the person with the misdiagnosis is self-employed, the defendant’s team will request tax returns for their business, as well as bank statements, to support any loss being claimed.
For further help, call our advisors today.
Claim For Leukaemia Misdiagnosis Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor
Our medical negligence solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)
This basically means if your case is unsuccessful, you are not required to pay any solicitor fees for the work done on the claim. CFAs also ensure that you can access the skills and expertise of our knowledgeable legal professionals without having to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees.
If your claim wins, your solicitor will deduct a small success fee from your compensation. It is a legally capped percentage, meaning you will receive the majority of your compensation.
If you would like to find out if you are eligible to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim, then call us for a free, no-obligation consultation:
- Call on 0800 073 8804
- Use our ‘contact us‘ form
- Live chat available
More Useful Resources About Medical Negligence Claims
Below are additional resources that may help in understanding misdiagnosis due to medical negligence:
- Advice on when you could claim for head and neck cancer misdiagnosis
- Find out if there is an average payout for cancer misdiagnosis
- Information about claiming for a fracture misdiagnosis
Further resources:
- Read about good medical practices from the General Medical Council (GMC)
- Learn about the work of the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- Get a government overview of applying for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
We would like to thank you for taking the time to read our guide on how to make a leukaemia misdiagnosis claim.
