Description
The Claimant's wife, Ms Begum, had been visiting the Defendant general practitioners for several months complaining of stomach-related symptoms. In March 2008 she was diagnosed with stomach cancer however the cancer was too advanced to treat and she died in August 2008. The Defendant admitted to a negligent failure to diagnose the Claimant's wife with stomach cancer as early as they should have done. The Claimant brought a claim for himself and his children under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and for his wife's estate under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934. The trial judge held that if the Claimant had been diagnosed at an earlier stage she would have lived for another two years but would have suffered the same symptoms and had to undergo grueling treatments. He awarded no damages for PSLA. He rejected the claim under s.1(1)(b) of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 for damages in respect of mental anguish caused by the wife's awareness that her life expectancy had been reduced.
The Court of Appeal held that there were no special rules for the assessment of damages in cases under the 1934 Act. The court should undertake the conventional exercise and decide what pain was occasioned by the negligence. The fact that the symptoms would have been suffered at some stage in any event and the pain treatment would have caused were relevant. The judge had been correct to refuse to award damages for PSLA. In terms of awareness under s.1(1)(b) of the Administration of Justice Act 1982, the Claimant's wife had believed that the delay in diagnosis had caused her cancer to spread. She had feared this based upon good objective grounds. It was not necessary to prove that she knew for certain that her life expectancy was reduced by the delay. Her mental anguish lasted for a three month period and, though there was no psychiatric injury, she was a young woman with four small children. An appropriate award would be £3,500.
