Distress, anger after cancer misdiagnosis
Otago Daily Times 21 December 2017
Family First Comment: Still want that euthanasia?!
The proposed law is based on diagnoses – but it’s not always right. But the outcome could be deadly. Euthanasia is not safe.
www.protect.org.nz
After saying goodbye to her grandchildren and planning her funeral, Jan Scott did not expect to see another Christmas.
But last month the 70-year-old was told Dunedin Hospital’s diagnosis of terminal lung cancer was a mistake.
While relieved, she is angry she was never referred to an oncologist and was denied further treatment.
In June, Mrs Scott was told she had as little as five months to live, and the cancer was too advanced for chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Her doctor was a respiratory consultant.
She was told a chest scan revealed a 21mm tumour on her left lung, ”shadows” on her other lung, and cancer in her lymph nodes.
She was referred to Otago Community Hospice for palliative care.
READ MORE: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/distress-anger-after-cancer-misdiagnosis