How did doctors miss my husband's cancer 37 times - Daily Express - By Jo Willey

- 01 May 2006;Daily Express

A YOUNG mother told yesterday how her husband died after doctors failed to diagnose his cancer 37 times in 18 months.

Peter Cura, 31, had been in and out of hospital, constantly sick, but his kidney cancer was missed over and over again.

He died in February but his three-year-old daughter Abbie still asks when he is coming home.

Now his widow Julia, 32, who has another child Lewis, six, is fighting for answers from Medway Maritime hospital in Gillingham about how the three inch tumour could be missed so many times. As she spoke, the hospital was planning to cut 160 jobs to try to slash its spending by up to £11million. "Abbie doesn't understand at all, " said Mrs Cura. "I think she still thinks he's in the hospital. Lewis remembers the dad that used to run about. Abbie didn't have that."

The nightmare began in April 2002 when carpenter Mr Cura, of Rainham, was taken to hospital with crippling pains in his kidneys, blood in his urine and vomiting.

An X-ray revealed an obstruction in his left kidney. He had two stones removed and doctors insisted there was nothing more serious.

But that was the start of an ordeal that involved a gruelling series of tests including scans and X-rays and six operations.

Mrs Cura said: "He just kept going in and out and in and out, staying in for a few days and then being sent home. They never once got any more stones out but they were somehow still convinced that this was the problem." Mr Cura began to feel ill when Abbie was a few months old. From weighing 13 and a half stones, he dropped to fewer than 11 stones.

Despite this dramatic weight loss - a major sign of cancer - doctors allegedly did not believe a man of his age could have a tumour. Mrs Cura said: "We asked if his left kidney could be taken out but they said 'no', that two kidneys should be kept in for as long as possible - which we couldn't understand as people can function perfectly well with one." She said even when her husband asked consultant John Palmer whether he had cancer, they were told he had kidney stones or a misshapen kidney. She said: "Peter was having dozens of scans, so we thought Mr Palmer had the evidence." But in December 2002, Mr Palmer revealed that Mr Cura's left kidney had failed and had to be removed. It was only after the operation, seven months later, that doctors investigated the organ further and discovered a three-inch malignant tumour. But, Mrs Cura said, he was told it was nothing to worry about.

The couple demanded a CT and bone scan, to see if the cancer had spread. And on Mr Cura's 29th birthday - September 3, 2003 - he was told it had, to his lymph nodes and abdomen. "They just said, 'there's nothing more we can do', " said Mrs Cura. "Peter was angry." She added: "We asked him (Mr Palmer) whether if he had taken out the kidney as we had asked 18 months ago, things would have been different. He said we wouldn't be having this conversation today." Despite further treatment, Mr Cura died on February 28 with his wife and parents at his bedside.

"All the hospital would ever admit is that they delayed a diagnosis, " said Mrs Cura. "But they never really made one. They just happened to find the tumour when they took the kidney out."

The Curas' lawyer, Sarah Harman, said: "No one was prepared to review his original diagnosis of kidney stones. Radiology staff failed to notice a clearly-visible cancer on two scans."

Mrs Cura, who has complained to the General Medical Council, has a copy of a letter that Mr Palmer sent to their GP, the day after he had seen them at his clinic.

"I reviewed this patient today, together with his CT, " the letter said. "You may gather that absolutely extraordinarily, we found a renal cell carcinoma in the kidney which we took out for what we assumed to be end point stone disease. Two ultrasounds done in June and October had failed to show anything suggestive of a tumour and ironically my obsession with trying to keep young patients with two kidneys has in fact proved to be mistaken." A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Palmer was unavailable to comment on Mrs Cura's complaint.

She added: "The trust failed in its duty of care to Mr Cura, with tragic consequences.

"After problems with Mr Cura's care came to light, measures were put in place to prevent any possibility of a recurrence. Clear guidelines have been issued with respect to when senior consultant opinion should be sought to interpret ultrasound results where an abnormality is suspected. "In addition, all major clinical specialities, including urology, have routine - usually weekly - multidisciplinary team meetings to discuss diagnosis and treatment of individual patients."