‘Doctors didn’t spot deadly lung cancer’

Jan 29 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

A GRANDFATHER who has suffered two heart attacks and is dying of cancer is taking legal action against two of the region’s hospitals.

Steve Brown has terminal lung cancer and is spending his last weeks at home hooked up to an oxygen mask 24 hours a day.

The 70-year-old also has a heart condition and went through the trauma of suffering two heart attacks in five months.

The grandfather of Seaham, County Durham, has launched legal action against City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust as he believes that had doctors acted sooner, he would not be living a death sentence with inoperable lung cancer.

The former computer engineer is also taking steps to sue Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as he says advice to stop taking his heart medication triggered his second heart attack four days later.

He said: “I am absolutely devastated. The faith I had in doctors has completely disappeared. I feel so angry and cheated.”

Mr Brown was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in February last year, three years after he first reported symptoms to doctors at Sunderland Royal Hospital. He had repeatedly complained of chest pain and physical fatigue but despite doctors carrying out X-rays and finding an inflammatory lesion in his lung, he was not referred to an oncologist until last year when he was diagnosed.

By then the tumour was terminal and after two bouts of chemotherapy, he was told there was nothing more medics could do.

“I feel cheated by the doctors who I think could have caught this cancer earlier and I wouldn’t be in this awful position.”

Mr Brown’s trauma was deepened when he lost his partner of four years Eileen and couldn’t attend her funeral as he was critically ill after his first bout of chemotherapy last year.

His immune system was already weak as he was on medication to thin his blood and prevent clotting which reduced the platelets in his blood.

He was advised under no circumstances should he stop taking medication after he suffered a heart attack in Spain and had an operation to insert stents – metal tubes coated in drugs – to blow up the arteries and prevent clotting.

The medicine had to be taken for at least six months after the operation in summer 2006.

But five months later, a member of staff at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle advised him over the phone that he must stop taking the medication or a biopsy to investigate for cancer could not be carried out. He took the advice and four days later suffered a second heart attack.

Mr Brown hopes by speaking out and taking action against the hospitals it will prevent another person facing such a cruel prognosis which he believes could have been avoided.

He said doctors must keep patients more informed of their treatment options and investigate thoroughly patients’ concerns.

“I knew instinctively it was cancer before they even told me.

“I had pain and extreme fatigue for years but despite seeing inflammation in my lung they never took proper action until it was too late.”

Solicitor Angela Kirtley of Irwin Mitchell said: “We have been instructed to investigate both claims on Mr Brown’s behalf.”

A spokesman for City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said: “We sympathise greatly with Mr Brown but diagnosis is a matter of complex medical judgment at a specific time. In view of his claim it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

A spokesperson for the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has provided the following statement: “The trust has been made aware of a potential claim for Mr Brown. As litigation appears to be pending, it is inappropriate to comment further.”