Mistakes prove costly when there is little room for error

Up to 1,000 Irish patients may be dying every year due to mistakes in treatment or diagnosis, Dan Buckley reports on the rise of medical negligence.

ON the face of it, Janet Donnelly did everything right. Told in 1990 that she was at above average risk of developing cervical cancer, she made sure she was tested annually and in June 1999 was given the all-clear at her regular screening.

But that advice was flawed, and as a result, the 38-year-old mother from Cabra in Dublin is dying of a condition that could easily have been treated in its early stages.