London Hospital Trust apologise for cancer misdiagnosis
Megan Royle unnecessarily had her eggs frozen as a result of having immunotherapy she didn't need
A London woman who lived with an incorrect cancer diagnosis for two years has received compensation, after she had her eggs frozen and underwent immunotherapy.
Make up artist Megan Royle, 33, had her mole misdiagnosed as a melanoma in 2019.
She underwent nine cycles of treatment at the recommendation from Royal marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
She underwent a 2cm wide excision of tissue to remove the "cancer".
Both services used by Chelsea and West Minister Hospital misinterpreted her results, which was not corrected until she moved to East Yorkshire in 2021.
The Trust there informed her the previous diagnoses were incorrect, after revieing her files and scans.
Ms Royle, from Beverly, said said she struggled to understand what had happened, and felt "complete shock".
She added: "You just can't really believe something like this can happen, and still to this day I've not had an explanation as to how and why it happened.
"I spent two years believing I had cancer, went through all the treatment and then was told there had been no cancer at all."
She said: "When the doctors sat me down and told me it took a while to sink in.
"You'd think the immediate emotion would be relief, and in some sense it was, but I'd say the greater emotions were frustration and anger.
"When I was first told I had cancer and that I needed surgery to remove it and treatment which could impact on my fertility, my approach was simply to say 'yes, let's do what we need to do'.
Immunotherapy treatment she received could impact on her fertility, she was told, and so she underwent egg preservation
She said: "I wasn't thinking about having children at that time, but having children was always something I planned for later in life, so having eggs preserved was something I didn't hesitate doing.
"All in all, I got my head around it pretty quickly, as difficult as that was.
"However, then to be told two years later, having undergone the treatment and lived with the worry, I found being told I'd never had cancer at all hard.
"I wasn't in a good place for quite some time to be honest, strange as that may seem."
She took her case to medical negligence specialists Hudgell Solicitors who won an out of court settlement with the two trusts.
Associate Solicitor Matthew Gascoyne said the whole case was “entirely avoidable.”
He said: "Had she not moved, she may well now still be in a situation where she was believing she was in remission and that the cancer could return."
A spokesperson from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said: "We wish to offer our sincere apologies to Megan Royle for the distress caused by her experience at our trust and we are pleased that a settlement has been agreed."
A spokesperson for North West London Pathology, a joint partnership hosted by Imperial College NHS Trust, said: "We are deeply sorry for the distress caused to Ms Royle and apologise unreservedly for the error made.
"While no settlement will make up for the impact this has had, we are pleased an agreement has been reached."