If you visit a doctor or dentist with symptoms you’re unsure about or might be symptoms of mouth cancer, you’ve a right to a reasonable standard of care. It’s the duty of a medical professional to examine any symptoms and spot them as potential signs of cancer.
If they don’t do this, it could be medical negligence and you could be entitled to claim compensation.
Some of the common reasons why you could make a claim include if a medical professional:
- Failed to link your symptoms to oral cancer
- Diagnosed you with the wrong condition
- Caused your diagnosis to be delayed
- Misinterpreted your test results
- Didn’t refer you for relevant tests or scans
- Didn’t examine your symptoms properly
- Failed to carry out your biopsy correctly, or at all.
If you believe you were treated negligently in a way not listed here, get in touch to speak to our experts. We’ll listen to what happened to you and advise you on whether you’re eligible to make a claim.
You can make a claim on behalf of a family member who lost their life through a cancer misdiagnosis.
We understand that no amount of money can make up for the mental and physical trauma you’ve gone through. However, it can ensure a brighter future by paying for treatment and ongoing support. If you’ve lost earnings through being unable to work because of an oral cancer misdiagnosis, compensation can make up for your lost earnings.
If your cancer is terminal, compensation can pay for the care you need and ensure the financial stability of any loved ones who rely on you.
When you contact us to discuss making a claim, we’ll listen to the circumstances around your misdiagnosis. Once we’ve an idea of what happened to you, we’ll advise you on what we think is the best way forward.
We’ll begin by contacting the individual or organisation responsible for your misdiagnosis. If they accept responsibility, we’ll work to get you interim payments. These are payments made to you while your claim’s ongoing and are taken out of your final compensation amount. Interim payments can pay for any ongoing treatment you need before your claim’s settled, and cover expenses such as travelling to hospital.
If they won’t accept blame, we’ll gather all available evidence to prove your misdiagnosis was the result of negligence. We’ll also use independent medical experts who can give evidence to prove your misdiagnosis.
We can also help you if your claim is on behalf of a loved one who lost their life from an oral cancer misdiagnosis. We can represent you at an inquest and we’ll do all we can to get you the answers about how this negligence happened.
To minimise the stress for you, we’ll do everything we can to keep your claim from going to court. If your opponent won’t accept responsibility or disagrees with how much compensation we think you need, we’ll start court proceedings.
Even if court dates are set, your claim could still be settled before we get to court. Whatever happens, we’ll do everything we can to make you feel as comfortable as possible. We’ll be here for you every step of the way.
Our knowledge and experience comes from decades of securing compensation in cancer misdiagnosis claims. We’ve the largest team of medical negligence lawyers in the country, giving us a set of expertise that’s unrivalled by any other firm.
Finding out your cancer has been diagnosed late can be an unbearable experience. We’ve worked with hundreds of people who’ve been through this, and that’s why we’ll treat your claim as the unique situation it is. We take the time to understand what happened to you and tailor our advice based on what we think is best for your circumstances.
We can also help you to make a dental negligence claim if your cancer symptoms weren’t spotted or investigated by your dentist.
Leading legal guides like Chambers and Partners consistently regard us as one of the best law firms in the UK. A former client said of our medical negligence team: "Irwin Mitchell was exceptionally knowledgeable, professional and empathetic when dealing with my claim."
Aside from ensuring your legal needs are met, we’ll also make sure you’re getting all the support you need. Our in-house Support and Rehabilitation coordinators are trained clinical specialists who’ll assess the help you’d benefit from. Our connections with charities, carers, and support groups around the country means we’ll get you help that’s local to you.
We work with a range of cancer charities, including Maggie’s and Shine Cancer Support. If you want their support, we'll put you in touch with these organisations and they’ll be able to support you and your loved ones through this difficult time.
Once your claim’s settled, you may be confused about how to manage your compensation. We’ve an Asset Management team of financial experts who can advise you on how to make your money last for as long as you need it to. They can suggest ways you could invest your compensation and get the most from it.
Our Court of Protection lawyers can set up personal injury trusts. If you’re entitled to any benefits, they’ll help you to access all you could claim.
Our specialist Wills solicitors are also on hand to give any advice you need around Wills.
We’ve offices located across the country, so you’ll always have a legal expert that’s close by. If you can’t get to one of our offices, we can visit you at home or in hospital. We’ll communicate in a way that’s best for you, including phone or video calls, and email.
Each claim is different, which means the amount of compensation awarded is different every time.
The best way to get an idea of the value of your claim is to speak to us. Once we’ve more information on the circumstances around your misdiagnosis, we’ll be able to advise you on how much you could claim.
The usual time limit for making an oral cancer misdiagnosis claim is three years. This starts from the date you were treated negligently or the date you learned negligence had taken place.
If you’re claiming on behalf of a loved one who died because of a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, you’ve three years from the date of their death. If you learned later that negligence contributed to their death, you’ve three years from the date you found this out.
The three-year limit doesn’t apply to children. It only comes into effect after their 18th birthday.
If you’re claiming on behalf of an adult without the mental capacity to make their own decisions, the three-year limit doesn’t apply. It only applies if they regain mental capacity.
Read more about the time limits for making a medical negligence claim.
