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NHS Medical staff failed to diagnose early signs of malignant melanoma

This article was published on April 2nd, 2014

An elderly patient has been left severely disfigured after hospital staff failed to correctly diagnose a growth on her nose as a malignant melanoma and remove it in time.

The tumour began as a small spot on the end of her nose which then developed into a scab and eventually ended up the size of turnip.

The 79 year old patient had in fact been in hospital following a fall in her garden where she had been receiving treatment for a broken leg and a damaged kneecap. She was in hospital for nearly five months and in that time the scab on her nose kept falling off and reforming into a bigger lump. The family claim that the doctors dismissed the deformity as just a reaction to the medication she had been receiving for her broken leg and they have decided to sue the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust for negligence.

The malignant melanoma was only diagnosed after the patient visited a locum whilst staying with her daughter who advised her to go for a biopsy which confirmed it was cancer. The family feel the hospital staff had plenty of time to correctly diagnose the cancer and had they done so early on then the facial disfigurement could have been prevented.

The cancerous growth became so big and unsightly that the patient had to suffer painful life-saving surgery to remove the growth which eventually spread to her lip. She has been left with no nose and an unsightly hole in her face.

The patient feels angry, “The tumour was so big it had spread to my lip and I had to have two operations to remove it. ”

“By the end it was the size of a turnip. “Now I’ve been left with a gaping hole in the middle of my face – I look like I’ve been shot.”

Surgeons removed almost all of her nose in two operations, as well as a portion of her upper lip, and a slice of skin from her neck for skin grafts which did not take. She has been fitted with a prosthetic nose but it is too uncomfortable to wear.

If you have experienced misdiagnosis of a condition or illness which then led to further complications then call our experienced solicitors now on FREEPHONE 0800 1979 345. They will listen to you and help acertain if you are entitled to medical negligence compensation. It is important to highlight poor practice to prevent further pain and distress being caused to others.

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NHS Medical staff failed to diagnose early signs of malignant melanoma

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