Consultant says sorry after man dies of cancer

A hospital consultant yesterday apologised to the family of a 53-year-old man who died from lung cancer after an alleged failure to carry out procedures and tests which could have led to an earlier diagnosis.

Rosarii Molloy Curran yesterday settled her action against Wexford-based consultant Colm Quigley and the HSE for €60,000. She had sued for the mental distress, anguish, and upset she suffered as a result of the death of her husband John Curran from lung cancer in April 2011.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told the issue for the Curran family was that Mr Curran may have been able to plan his last few years and his quality of life could have been managed if he had had an earlier diagnosis. It was not the case a different end result may have been achieved.

Ms Curran of Carrigmannon, Killurin, Co Wexford had sued Colm Quigley, a specialist in respiratory and general medicine at Ely Hospital, Wexford, and the HSE for alleged negligence and breach of duty of care.

She claimed there was a failure to investigate or follow up in relation to Mr Curran and his condition where he had low sodium levels in his blood and a failure to have any adequate or proper regard for Mr Curran’s smoking history and clinical presentation including his age and high tobacco consumption. There was, she claimed, also a failure to investigate Mr Curran for lung cancer immediately.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told that liability was admitted in the case.

In an apology read in court by counsel Conor Halpin, Dr Quigley said he wished to apologise to the Curran family in relation to the failure to perform and follow up on investigations proposed in 2009 and 2010.

He said as a result of a subsequent review a number of system changes were implemented to prevent it happening again and an integrated patient management system had been put in place.

Dr Quigley, who is a former president of the Irish Hospitals Consultants’ Association, also in the statement extended his sympathy to Ms Curran and her family on the death.

Mrs Molloy Curran claimed in August 2009, Dr Quigley diagnosed her husband as suffering from low blood sodium. Having purported to investigate Mr Curran’s condition further, no such investigations, including a bronchoscopy to look at the lungs, or follow-ups were arranged or carried out.

It was also claimed between December 2009 and March 2010, Mr Curran attended at Waterford Regional Hospital for investigation and treatment for another condition but the low sodium levels also showed up but were not investigated.

In December 2010, it is claimed Mr Curran was diagnosed by Dr Quigley as having ‘Raynaud’s phenomenon’ a condition where a person has excessively reduced blood flow generally caused by stress, and prescribed medication.

No further investigation or follow-up was arranged or carried out, it was claimed.

In March 2011, Mr Curran was admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital and had his leg amputated due to vascular disease and while there he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died a month later.

In a statement issued through their solicitor, the Curran family welcomed the settlement and expressed their hope the case will lead to the introduction of failsafe protocols for patients awaiting vital tests.

“This has been a long and harrowing ordeal for the family,”solicitor Dermot McNamara said, adding that “necessary tests were not carried out, despite the assurances of Dr Colm Quigley that they would be.”

“This led to a finding of poor professional performance against Dr Quigley by the Medical Council for failing to arrange the tests, failing to recognise the tests had not been carried out, and failing to have ‘any adequate system’ in place for ‘tracking or monitoring tests’.

Mr McNamara said there was no system in place for the follow-up of investigations proposed to be carried out on Mr Curran. “When tests are ordered to be carried out on a patient, there should be a clear and visible pathway to alert their clinician that the test has not been carried out.” he added.