Blood Cancer Negligence and Awareness Month
September 2, 2021
September is blood cancer awareness month, which is run by Blood Cancer UK. A lot of the symptoms of blood cancer can be vague and non-specific, so patients may experience blood cancer negligence in their diagnosis or treatment of the disease.
Types of Blood Cancer
There are three main groups of blood cancer. These are Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma. They are then broken down further in each category.
Leukaemia
There are 2 main groups of leukaemia – acute and chronic leukaemia. They are then grouped by the type of white blood cell that is affected.
Whether a leukaemia is acute or chronic describes how quickly the leukaemia is likely to develop and get worse.
The four most common types of leukaemia are:
- Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
- Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia
- Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
The symptoms may feel flu-like. Therefore it is important that Doctors examine patient’s symptoms carefully.
Lymphoma
There are two main types of Lymphoma: Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphomas have a particular appearance under a microscope. They contain cells called Reed Sternberg cells. Non-Hodgkin lymphomas look different under the microscope and do not contain Reed Sternberg cells.
Most lymphomas are non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It’s important for doctors to be able to tell the difference between Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. They are two different diseases and the treatment for them is not the same.
The most common symptom of both Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is a painless swelling in a lymph node. This can be in an area of the body such as the neck, armpit or groin.
Myeloma
Myeloma is a type of cancer that develops from cells in the bone marrow called plasma cells. It does not always cause symptoms in its early stages; however, it can be picked up in a routine blood test. Symptoms of Myeloma include:
- Bone pain (particularly in the hips, back, ribs or shoulders)
- Easily broken bones and fractures
- Fatigue
- Spinal cord compression
- Nausea
- Frequent infections or infections that will not go away
- feeling thirsty, passing urine more frequently, confusion and drowsiness – these are all symptoms of high calcium levels in the blood
Blood Cancer Negligence
Some forms of negligence that are present in blood cancer cases include delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and delays in treatment. When a person shows symptoms that are classed as red flags, but a doctor or medical professional misinterprets the symptoms or ignores them, this can lead to a delay in diagnosis or misdiagnosis. If this happens, then you may be able to make a medical negligence claim.
Similarly, if a doctor or medical professional misinterprets a person’s symptoms, then there might be a delay in treatment, or they may receive incorrect treatment. This is especially important as many blood cancer symptoms can be vague and non-specific.
If any case of delays or incorrect treatments or misdiagnosis causes a person’s cancer to get worse, develop or spread, then they may be able to make a medical negligence claim. There may also be cases where delays or incorrect treatment or misdiagnosis causes a person’s cancer to become incurable.
How We Can Help with Blood Cancer Negligence
Here at The Medical Negligence Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with medical negligence claims. This includes blood cancer negligence. So contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138761 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.