Galway Bay fm newsroom - The HSE and a testing laboratory have apologised in the High Court to a terminally ill Oranmore woman over the negligent reading of a smear test.
The apology was read as Patricia Carrick and her husband Damien settled their High Court action in which it was claimed Mrs Carrick’s smear test was misdiagnosed or misreported.
According to the Irish Times, the 51-year-old mother of four is in hospital and was too ill to attend court to hear the apology.
Mr Carrick was in court as Patrick Hanratty SC, for the HSE, read the apology on behalf of the HSE and MedLab Pathology Ltd which acknowledged that a 2016 sample was read in a manner that was negligent and in breach of duty.
They apologised that it happened and for the consequences and distress.
Patrick Treacy SC, instructed by Cian O’Carroll solicitor, for the family, said the case had settled after going to mediation.
Mrs Carrick was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year and underwent treatment, but she suffered a relapse of the cancer in February and is now terminally ill and receiving palliative care.
An administrator, of Oranmore, she and her husband sued the HSE claiming failures in care had, on the balance of probability, caused delay in diagnosing her cancer which she said caused a loss of opportunity of cure.
Mrs Carrick, whose youngest child is 13, further claimed it has impacted on her life expectancy and she has been unable to work since July last year.
