A British cancer patient is taking legal action against the NHS after being given chemotherapy for eight years instead of six months and being left with irreversible brain damage, reports Daily Mail.
David Bown (41) claims delays in an MRI scan would have highlighted life-threatening complications that have resulted in him now depending on his parents for care.
He was prescribed the drug temozolomide by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, which is at the centre of a scandal involving patients being given “unnecessary chemotherapy”.
The former IT systems manager and keen footballer began suffering seizures around 10 years ago before scans showed a low-grade brain tumour. When a scan was carried out four days later, he was still not sent to theatre for emergency surgery, despite it showing bleeding and swelling of the brain.
He went on to suffer a stroke and later became comatose, at which point he was taken to surgery for extraction of the blood clot, placement of a drain and then further tumour resection.
He was prescribed temozolomide chemotherapy and continued on the drug for more than eight years, instead of the six months recommended by clinical guidelines.
Independent experts say the prolonged chemotherapy exposed him to unnecessary risks, including increased chances of secondary blood cancers.
Bown now lives with significant cognitive and visual impairment, requiring daily support from his parents to manage his medication, prepare meals, and attend appointments.
He also experiences depression, which lawyers say is linked directly to the years of debilitating treatment.
Bown said he had trusted the hospital to do what was best for him.
“I cry myself to sleep at night – I dream that I can see, and then I wake up and I can’t see. It’s a nightmare.”
His legal team say the failures in his care, from consent and surgical planning to the delayed recognition of complications post-operatively and the prolonged, inappropriate chemotherapy, have had a devastating and irreversible impact on his life.
Fiona Tinsley, partner at Brabners who are representing the family, said Bown had been a young man with his whole future ahead of him, but the cumulative effect of the health system’s failings had robbed him of his independence, his health and years of his life.
The firm says it has also uncovered further proof of harmful cancer treatments at University Hospitals Coventry, and that more than 30 patients are now taking legal action.
“What began as concerns about chemotherapy in Coventry now points to systemic failings across a number of practice areas in the trust, involving neuro-oncology clinicians, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, clinical nurse specialists and pharmacists at UHCW,” said Tinsley.
“The human cost has been devastating. People were told they would have months to live without treatment, and endured years of debilitating treatment, believing it was keeping them alive.
“The burden of these failures has been profound. Patients have suffered physical, psychological, and financial harm, including loss of career, fertility, and quality of life.
“For many, there is also no end in sight, with some patients becoming infertile and going into early menopause, and one developing secondary leukaemia requiring a stem cell transplant. All patients involved have also been placed at increased risk of secondary cancers.”
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: “We are committed to providing the safest possible care for our patients. As a legal claim is ongoing, we are unable to comment further.”
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