Cancer doctors are cleared of killing girl, 16 with overdose of radiation

Published on Monday 8 March 2010 21:42

A FATAL accident inquiry into the case of a teenage cancer sufferer given an overdose of radiation has been abandoned after experts agreed there was no link between the error and her death.

• The parents of Lisa Norris, who died aged 16, are to continue their legal action for compensation over the pain she suffered following an overdose of radiation. Picture: PA

The parents of Lisa Norris, who was 16 when she died, yesterday said they were disappointed, but accepted the decision not to go ahead with the hearing.

However, Liz and Ken Norris said they would push on with their compensation bid over the pain and suffering their daughter experienced before her death from a brain tumour.

Mr Norris said: "We still blame the Beatson (Oncology Centre] for not giving her the chance of a life because the treatment they gave her was inferior."

Later, speaking in a television interview, he said: "We still believe we were right in thinking that the radiation killed her and we'll carry that until the day we die."

Asked where it left them with the legal action, Mr Norris said: "Well, we'll just continue on now with the case that (lawyer] Cameron Fyfe has brought for damages for hardship and suffering of Lisa. And Lisa did suffer. She really did."

The Norris family, from Girvan, Ayrshire, has faced a long battle to find out what went wrong in Lisa's care at the Beatson Oncology Centre in Glasgow in 2006.

An expert report revealed that an under-qualified and under-trained member of staff entered a wrong number on a form that led to her receiving 19 radiation overdoses, which left her with burns on her neck and head.

Mr Norris said their suffering felt as raw now as when Lisa died. "It is more hurtful because it has put our health down as well. We feel it every day," he said.

The latest step in the family's battle was due to begin yesterday with the inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court. But, during a short hearing, it was revealed the FAI would not go ahead after experts agreed there was no link between the accident and Lisa's death.

Area procurator-fiscal Lesley Thomson said: "The medical experts … have ultimately concluded that there is no causal link between the radiation overdose and Lisa's death."

Mr and Mrs Norris announced they would take legal action after a report by Professor Karol Sikora concluded that, if Lisa had been given the correct treatment, she would have survived for a further five years.

However, Ms Thomson said yesterday that there was no longer any "controversy" surrounding her death. She told Sheriff Principal James Taylor: "One expert thought there was a link between the accidental overdose of radiation and Lisa's death.

"However, by mid-February 2010, as a result of further detailed inquiries and discussions with experts, it was established and agreed this was not the case."

The family's lawyer, Mr Fyfe, of Ross Harper Solicitors, said: "We had a report from Professor Sikora, an expert in oncology, who confirmed that Lisa would probably have survived had it not been for the overdose. After further inquiry, the professor revised his report to say it was a possibility, not a probability.

"Proof in Scots law is based on the balance of probabilities and that is not enough for the fiscal to proceed with the fatal accident inquiry. I think the family are disappointed that Professor Sikora was unable to adhere to his initial view, but they accept that it was not appropriate for the FAI to proceed in these circumstances."

He said the family will continue its civil action against NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

However, the action will now seek compensation only for the pain and suffering Lisa went through as a result of the overdose, not for her death.