Mother dies after doctors miss cancer three times

A 33-YEAR-OLD woman died after doctors failed to recognise she was suffering from breast cancer, instead telling her to rub evening primrose oil on her ­aching breasts.

The mother-of-two was referred by her GP to breast cancer specialists on three occasions over seven months between May and November 2008.

Specialists did not diagnose her cancer, instead advising her to take natural remedies for sore breasts. It was not until a fourth consultation in 2009 that the woman, from Stornoway, in the Western Isles, was diagnosed.

A report by the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman, Jim Martin, said that by the time the cancer was diagnosed, she was 12 weeks’ pregnant with her second child.

The woman, referred only as Mrs A, was treated for her cancer, but the disease later returned and she died in June 2011.

Mr Martin said: “Mrs A was 30 years old when she reported to her GP on 12 May 2008 that she was suffering from discomfort and nodularity [small lumps] in her right breast. The GP referred her urgently to the Western Isles Hospital clinic on 20 May 2008.

“Mrs A was seen by a consultant general surgeon and, following an ultrasound scan, the surgeon wrote to Mrs A’s GP that he was ‘reassured’ that there was ‘no abnormality’ in the right breast.”

She returned to her GP a month later, complaining of a “golf ball” size lump in the right breast. Her GP again made an urgent referral and she was seen at the clinic on 2 September by a locum consultant surgeon.

The surgeon wrote that he had detected “thickening” of the breast tissue rather than a lump and was going to repeat the ultra­sound scan. He then noted there were “no masses seen”.

Mr Martin said: “Mrs A was reviewed in the clinic again on 30 September by the surgeon and advised to take evening primrose oil”.

Mrs A, however, went to her GP again in November complaining of an enlarged right breast with an inverted nipple and puckering of the skin. She was six weeks’ pregnant. The GP again made an urgent referral, stating he could detect a “golf ball sized lump which is mobile”.

The surgeon again saw Mrs A on 25 November 2008 when he detected a “large palpable mass” in her right breast. He requested a further ultrasound scan and reviewed Mrs A on 16 December.

Mainly at Mrs A’s insistence, the surgeon referred her to the Highland Breast Centre in Inverness. Further tests led to a diagnosis of breast cancer in January 2009. After treatment, the cancer returned. She died in June 2011.

Mr Martin said: “I am satisfied that in the case of the first referral the care provided was reasonable. On the matter of the second and third referrals, I am not satisfied.” Health board chief executive Gordon Jamieson said: “The board will be issuing a written apology.”