The High Court has begun hearing the case of a terminally ill Limerick woman who claims two smear tests were wrongly reported as showing no abnormalities.
Ruth Morrissey of Schoolhouse Road in Monaleen is suing the HSE and two labs in what is the first case of its kind to go to hearing since Vicky Phelan’s.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
Ruth Morrissey was diagnosed with cervical cancer in May 2014. She fought it and beat it but it came back in February.
She’s 37 and has a 7 year old daughter and was told she has less than two years to live.
She and her husband Paul claim smear tests carried out in 2009 and three years later in 2012 were wrongly reported as being normal.
And she further claims she wasn't told about that until earlier this year despite the fact the HSE became aware of it four years ago.
The Morrisseys are suing the HSE, US lab Quest Diagnostics and Irish lab Medlab Pathology for what they claim was negligence and a breach of their duty of care to Ruth.
They’re also seeking aggravated and exemplary damages for the HSE’s alleged failure to advise her of the incorrect reporting when it became aware.
This is the first case to go to hearing since Vicky Phelan’s €2.5m settlement of a similar case three months ago.
