A British mother died of Stage IV cervical cancer after her doctor mistakenly flagged an abnormal pap smear and biopsy as clear.
Kerry Pugh, 48, died in June 2022 after she was told her results came back normal, despite bleeding.
“I can’t begin to describe the hardship and exhaustion Kerry is going through,” her husband Steven said, according to the BBC. “She is a beautiful and loving person and a great mother. Seeing his health deteriorate when cancer attacked him was heartbreaking.”
The mother-of-three underwent tests after she started bleeding after sex around 2017 and had a decade-long history of abnormal cells on her cervix, according to the BBC.
In 2018, she had a routine pap smear which was told she was back to normal, but after her death in June 2022, Shrewsbury Royal Hospital audited her paperwork and found that was not the case.
Doctors at the hospital couldn’t find the exact cause of her bleeding the previous year, but she was flagged as being at high risk for HPV infection and later received a biopsy and developed pain at the base of her spine.
Kerry Pugh, 48, had the test after she started bleeding after sex around 2017 and had a decade-long history of abnormal cells on her cervix. Irwin Mitchell / SWNS In 2018, she had a routine pap smear that was told she was back to normal, but after her death in June 2022, Shrewsbury Royal Hospital audited her paperwork and found that was not the case. Irwin Mitchell / SWNS
He was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and an MRI scan revealed a large tumor the size of a tennis ball.
He underwent surgery and began radiation and chemotherapy, but later died in June 2022.
After her death, an audit found that her cervical cancer tests had come back showing signs of severe cell changes.
This prompted her husband to hire medical malpractice attorney Irwin Mitchell to see if the hospital could have diagnosed his cancer earlier.
Doctors at the hospital were unable to find the exact cause of his bleeding the previous year. Irwin Mitchell / SWNS A few months later, the bleeding got worse and he started having pain in his tailbone. Irwin Mitchell / SWNS
Steven is also considering taking legal action and is now urging women to be aware of the signs of cervical cancer, which is often diagnosed at a late stage.
He said his wife, despite her illness, always put her family first and that she was “really everything to me and we all miss her every day.”
Pugh is survived by three children, Morgan, 24; Lily, 14; and Freddie, 11, according to The Sun.
The hospital and Telford Hospital NHS Trust – which helped with the audit – offer their condolences to the family.
“We continue to support Mr. Pugh with any questions regarding his wife’s care,” said Medical Director Dr. John Jones in a statement.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
