Brain Tumour Claims

This is different to when cancer spreads to the brain from another part of the body which is called secondary brain cancer.

Primary brain tumours can be benign or malignant. Malignant brain tumours grow faster, are more likely to recur after treatment and to spread to other parts of the brain. Brain tumours include those elsewhere in the central nervous system which incorporates the spinal cord. They are relatively rare. Symptoms can be misdiagnosed as they are often attributed to other conditions. Symptoms can include headaches, nausea, drowsiness and problems with eye sight. However, brain tumours can cause different symptoms depending upon where they are in the brain. For example, a tumour in the frontal lobe of the brain may cause difficulty walking and weakness on one side of the of body, whereas a tumour in the pituitary gland could cause weight gain and infertility.

Some types of brain tumour are slower growing, and some are more aggressive. As with almost all cancers, it is very important to be diagnosed as early as possible and claims for medical negligence can arise if there are delays in diagnosis, for example if a GP does not recognise potential symptoms and make a suitable referral to a specialist. Claims can also result from failures in the reporting of test results or from surgical errors, such as not removing all of the tumour.

To bring a claim for a delay in diagnosis of a brain tumour it will need to be shown that the delay was negligent and that this impacted on the outcome i.e. the cancer was diagnosed at a later stage than it should have been and will require more intensive treatment or that life expectancy has been impacted. Short delays may not be sufficient to show that the outcome was affected.