THE FAMILY OF a woman who died of cervical cancer in April 2012 were told this week that their mother had a smear test incorrectly reported.
Catherine Reck is one of 17 women caught up in the CervicalCheck scandal who has died, her daughter Grace Rattigan said in a Facebook post.
The stories of the women affected by the incorrect smear test results have continued to emerge over the past few weeks, since Vicky Phelan’s successful High Court case over her missed diagnosis.
Both Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathúna have told the harrowing stories of being diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the scandal has caused the government to set up an independent inquiry into how this happened and resulted in the resignation of HSE director general Tony O’Brien this week.
https://www.facebook.com/graceb4meals/posts/10156268367314787
Grace Rattigan said: “Vicky Phelan, Irene Teap, and Emma Mhic Mhathúna – all women you have heard about since this fiasco began. You can now add Catherine Reck to that list.”
She described how her mother had a routine smear test in November 2010. Catherine’s results said that she had low-grade abnormalities and was told she’d have to come back in six months for a retest.
However, after this she began to suffer from irregular bleeding and presented to the GP in April 2011, and it wasn’t until August of that year after a colposcopy was performed that she was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer.
Catherine’s daughter said: “We have now been informed that had this been reported correctly the colposcopy would have been requested immediately and would have been conducted no later than January 2011.
Things could have been very different for all of us right now. That is what we are trying to process, we feel as though we are starting our grieving process all over again. It feels like a wound has been ripped open, the sadness and anger is palpable.
She said that the family were told this week by the doctor who treated her mother that they were made aware of the discrepancies in Catherine’s smear test result in 2016.
Grace finished the post with a powerful message calling for accountability and answers for what happened to her mother.
She said: “We are numb, we are angry; we have been brought back to the start of a long and difficult grieving process. This changes everything, all of the “what if’s” suddenly feel different.
We spent the last six years accepting that we were dealt a shitty hand, that bad things happen and unfortunately it happened to us. To learn this could have potentially been avoided, it now feels like Catherine’s life and her positive impact on our lives was stolen.
We are ready to fight this. We are not calling for heads to roll. We won’t be causing undue panic or concern on the system. We want answers for Catherine, her family (us) and the other women and families who have been failed. We want accountability. Above all else we want change. We never want this to happen to any woman or her family in this country again.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris announced a package of supports that will be created for women and their families affected by the smear test controversy.
The Taoiseach apologised to all of the women and their families, and said the government is determined to provide answers and procure accountability.
Harris said the 209 women who received false negatives, and later went on to develop cervical cancer, will get financial assistance from the government.
The State will pay the women’s medical costs and they will get a discretionary medical card, as well as being exempt from the prescription charge. Free counselling is also to be given to the women.
The package will be individually tailored to each woman and her family.
There is no estimated budget cost at the moment, but Harris said that whatever is needed will be provided for.
With reporting from Christina Finn
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