Can I make an unnecessary mastectomy compensation claim?

You may be able to claim if negligent medical care caused you to undergo a mastectomy that could otherwise have been avoided. This could include circumstances where:

• A benign condition was wrongly diagnosed as cancer.
• A pathology sample was incorrectly interpreted.
• A mammogram, ultrasound or other investigation was misread.
• Further diagnostic tests should have taken place before surgery.
• Relevant information was not properly considered by your medical team.
• A less invasive treatment would have been clinically appropriate.
• You weren’t properly informed about material risks or reasonable alternatives before agreeing to surgery.

A poor outcome alone doesn’t establish negligence. We’ll obtain your medical records and work with appropriate independent experts to assess what should reasonably have happened and whether negligent care caused you avoidable harm.

Did you give valid informed consent for your mastectomy?

Medical consent is more than signing a form. Before treatment, your healthcare professional should take reasonable care to make sure you understand relevant material risks and reasonable alternative treatments.

An informed consent claim may arise where, for example, you agreed to a mastectomy after being told it was the only realistic option but a reasonable alternative treatment should also have been discussed.

Depending on your individual diagnosis, potential alternatives might have included treatments such as:

• Breast-conserving surgery
• Radiotherapy
• Hormone or endocrine therapy
• Other appropriate treatment or monitoring options

The fact that you signed a consent form doesn’t necessarily determine whether informed consent was properly obtained.

We can examine your medical records and the information you were given before surgery to investigate whether the risks and reasonable alternatives were adequately discussed.

What can you claim compensation for after an unnecessary mastectomy?

Compensation is intended, as far as money can, to reflect the harm and qualifying financial losses caused by negligent treatment.

A claim can broadly include general damages and special damages:

Depending on your circumstances, an unnecessary mastectomy may result in several different forms of harm.

Physical effects

These could include:

• Permanent scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of breast tissue
• Nerve damage
• Chronic post-mastectomy pain
• Lymphoedema
• Additional corrective or reconstructive surgery

Psychological effects

Losing a breast unnecessarily can have a significant psychological impact.

A claim may take account of qualifying psychological harm such as:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress
• Loss of body confidence
• Difficulties relating to intimacy or relationships

Appropriate medical evidence may be required to establish the nature and extent of these injuries.

Financial losses

You may also have experienced financial consequences such as:

• Loss of earnings during your recovery
• Reduced future earning capacity
• Travel expenses for medical appointments
• Treatment and therapy costs
• Care and assistance
• Appropriate future medical or rehabilitation needs

If your surgery resulted from a breast cancer misdiagnosis, our clinical negligence team can investigate both the diagnostic errors and the consequences of the unnecessary treatment.

How do we prove an unnecessary breast surgery claim?

Building a medical negligence claim requires careful investigation and appropriate independent medical evidence. We can handle each stage for you:

1. Requesting and reviewing your medical records

We can obtain your relevant medical records, including:

• Surgical notes
• Mammograms
• Ultrasound scans
• Biopsy results
• Pathology reports
• Relevant correspondence and consultation notes

These records help establish how the diagnosis was reached and why surgery was recommended.

2. Instructing independent medical experts

Depending on the issues involved, we can instruct appropriately qualified independent experts in areas such as pathology, radiology, oncology and breast surgery.

They can assess whether the treatment you received met an appropriate clinical standard.

3. Establishing causation

Identifying a clinical mistake isn’t enough on its own. We also need evidence that the negligent care caused you avoidable harm.

In an unnecessary mastectomy claim, this can mean establishing that appropriate care would probably have resulted in less invasive treatment or avoided the surgery altogether.

4. Valuing your claim

We’ll investigate the physical, psychological and financial consequences that can be attributed to negligence.

Where the evidence supports your case, we can then pursue compensation from the appropriate NHS body or private healthcare provider.

What should you do if you receive an NHS Trust review letter?

You may receive correspondence from an NHS Trust notifying you about an internal review, patient recall or investigation into historical breast care. If that happens, there are practical steps you can take.

Keep the official letter safe

Store the letter and any related correspondence securely.

It may provide important evidence about what happened and could be relevant when considering when you first became aware of a potential problem with your treatment.

Get advice before accepting a settlement

If you receive an offer of compensation, consider taking independent legal advice before accepting it.

An offer should be assessed against the individual harm and financial losses caused by the negligence, including relevant future needs.

Be aware of legal time limits

Medical negligence claims are subject to limitation periods.

You will generally have three years from the relevant date to start court proceedings, although when that period begins and whether an exception applies will depend on your circumstances.

Keep your medical information

Retain copies of any medical reports, correspondence or other information you receive relating to the review.

We can also obtain relevant medical records on your behalf as part of our investigation.

Speak to our medical negligence team

If you receive a review or recall letter and are unsure what it means, contact us for a confidential assessment.

We can review the correspondence alongside your treatment history and explain what options may be available.

Why choose Express Solicitors for your medical negligence claim?

Finding out that major surgery may have been unnecessary can be incredibly difficult to process.

You may have questions about your original diagnosis, why the operation was recommended and whether another treatment could have avoided the physical and psychological consequences you now face.

Our clinical negligence team can:

• Listen to what happened
• Obtain your complete medical records
• Investigate your diagnosis and treatment
• Review the consent process
• Instruct appropriate independent medical experts
• Establish whether less invasive treatment should have been considered
• Assess the physical and psychological impact
• Calculate qualifying financial losses
• Pursue the appropriate NHS body or private healthcare provider
• Keep you informed throughout your claim

We’ll handle your case sensitively while giving you clear, practical guidance about what happens next.

Make an unnecessary mastectomy claim on a no win, no fee basis

We can handle accepted unnecessary mastectomy claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly known as a no win, no fee agreement.

There’s no upfront payment of our legal fees.

If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not pay our legal fees, provided you comply with the terms of the agreement.

If your claim succeeds, deductions may be made from your compensation in accordance with the terms agreed with you.

We’ll explain the funding arrangement, potential deductions and any relevant financial risks clearly before you decide whether to proceed.

Terms apply.

Who will handle your unnecessary breast surgery claim?

Discovering that breast surgery or a mastectomy may not have been medically necessary can be extremely difficult to process. Claims involving unnecessary breast surgery are handled by Tanzeela and her all-female team, who understand the sensitive and personal nature of these cases.

They’ll take the time to listen to what happened, investigate the treatment you received and explain whether you may have grounds for a clinical negligence claim. Throughout the process, you’ll be treated with care and respect and kept informed about how your case is progressing.

Is there a time limit for making an unnecessary mastectomy claim?

You’ll generally have three years to start court proceedings for a medical negligence claim.

That period may run from the date the negligent treatment happened or from a later date of knowledge when you first knew, or could reasonably have known, the relevant facts about the injury and its possible connection with negligent care.

For example, you might only become aware that there was a potential problem with your surgery after receiving an NHS review or recall letter.

Different rules and exceptions can apply depending on the circumstances.

Because limitation can be complex, particularly where concerns about treatment emerge years later, it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Start your unnecessary mastectomy claim today

Discovering that you may have undergone major breast surgery unnecessarily can leave you with difficult questions about your diagnosis, treatment and future.

Our specialist clinical negligence solicitors can obtain your records, investigate why the surgery happened and work with independent medical experts to establish whether it could reasonably have been avoided.

Where the evidence supports a claim, we’ll pursue compensation for the avoidable physical, psychological and financial consequences.