A 49-year-old mother-of-two is to sue the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork for what she alleges was a delayed diagnosis of bowel cancer.
The woman’s lawyers went before the High Court today in an effort to speed up the hearing of her case because they said her prognosis was poor.
The woman alleges that despite tests being carried out in 2006, her diagnosis of bowel cancer with secondary liver cancer was not made until three years later.
She claims she could have been treated successfully if she had been diagnosed sooner.
At the High Court today, her lawyers asked the court to order the defendants - the hospital, a consultant and a GP - to file a defence sooner.
They said they were anxious that the case be speeded up because of her illness.
Lawyers for the hospital told the court that while they had sympathy for the woman’s situation, they needed time to file a proper and meaningful defence.
Mr Justice Sean Ryan said it was clear the woman had an extremely serious illness and he was conscious that the case should be heard as soon as possible.
However, he said the defendants had to be given time to make their case rather than rush headlong into a hearing.
He refused an order for an 'abridgement of time', which would have ordered a defence to be filed sooner.
However, he put the case in for mention early next month in the hope that progress could be made before then.
