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Mum calls for change in the law after cancer test mix-up
An Irish woman who came to England to have her breast removed after a
botched examination at a Cork hospital has met with Ireland’s Minister
for Health.
Mother-of-three Rebecca O’Malley from Ballina, Co. Tipperary, this
week met with Mary Harney to call for changes to Irish legislation to
make it mandatory that the victims of medical mistakes be directly informed
of what occurred.
Two years ago tests carried-out on Mrs O’Malley at Cork University
Hospital failed to indicate she was at risk of developing breast cancer.
A Health Service Executive (HSE) report later revealed that the misdiagnosis
was a result of an interpretative human error.
And the report concluded that the delay in the diagnosis caused the Tipperary
woman to develop invasive breast cancer — 14 months after the error
in her test results.
Facing an agonising four-week wait for surgery in Ireland, the 41-year-old
flew to London for a mastectomy and underwent intensive chemotherapy for
five months.
She has since criticised the HSE about her treatment.
Ms Harney said she fully supported Mrs O’Malley’s demand for
the report recommendations to be published.
And the HSE has said it will continue to operate two special contact numbers
for women with any concerns regarding breast test and biopsies in the
area.
Mrs O’Malley first underwent a fine needle biopsy in Limerick back
in 2005.
The sample was sent to Cork University Hospital where it was found to
be benign.
But a year later Mrs O’Malley was forced to return to her GP complaining
of pains in her breast.
A second biopsy confirmed she had breast cancer.
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