Case Study: April 2022
The family of a 36-year-old Cork mother who died of cervical cancer has settled High Court actions over the alleged misreporting of her smear slide.
Hairdresser Julie Quinlan Dingivan was six weeks pregnant with her third child when she had to have a radical hysterectomy after she was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in 2013.
Her family’s counsel, Patrick Treacy SC, instructed by Cian O’Carroll solicitor, told the High Court Julie’s cancer recurred over six months later and she underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy but tragically the disease progressed and she died on April 8, 2017.
Counsel said that Ms Quinlan Dingivan had a smear test under the CervicalCheck national screening programme in 2009 which was tested in a US lab and came back with no abnormalities detected.
Mr Treacy said it was their case that a review of the 2009 smear slide was carried out in January 2014 which showed that the original report on the smear test was incorrect, and the outcome was conveyed to a consultant gynaecologist two years later. Counsel said Julie, who was in the last year of her life, or her husband were not told of the review outcome.
Julie’s husband, Paul Dingivan, was advised in May 2018 of the review result which the court heard was around the time of the Vicky Phelan court case and settlement was reported.