A delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer due to a Pap smear false negative can lead to unnecessary deaths among women. These delayed diagnoses may be due to medical lab malpractice.

In recent years, women have been diagnosed with cervical cancer even after receiving a normal Pap smear result. A Pap smear false negative like these can delay the diagnosis of cervical cancer, resulting in a much more dangerous level of cervical cancer before the start of treatment. These false negatives could be attributed to medical malpractice. This, in turn, may give the patient a legal claim against the provider that performed the Pap smear.

Cervical cancer used to be one of the top causes of cancer deaths in American women. Over the past sixty years, since Pap smears became more common practice, the rate of deaths from cervical cancer has dropped significantly.

Pap smears can be effective in detecting pre-cancer, allowing treatment to begin before cancer has a chance to set in. Most women who get invasive cervical cancers have not had regular Pap tests.

How does the Pap smear work? Cells are collected from the cervix, to be examined under a microscope, in order to find evidence of cancer and pre-cancerous changes. If the Pap smear is abnormal, there are further tests which can be done.

The American Cancer Society used to recommend that women have a Pap smear done yearly starting at either age 18 or when they become sexually active, whichever is first. Now, these guidelines have relaxed. Women are now recommended to have a Pap test every three years from age 21 to 29, then every five years from ages 30 to 65, along with an HPV test.

The Pap test is not a perfect screening test. Results need to be examined by the human eye so an accurate analysis of hundreds of thousands of cells in each sample is not always possible, according to the American Cancer Society. Thus, many lab technicians are overworked with millions of Pap tests being conducted each year.

Excessive lab technician workloads have been blamed for Pap smear false negative test results. Theoretically, a woman can get a normal Pap smear result, yet find out in one to three years that she has Stage 3 or 4 cervical cancer. Only if the lab had accurately interpreted the Pap test could that same woman have avoided this deadly diagnosis.

A scandal erupted recently when it was discovered that as far back as 2010, Austin-based Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) allegedly missed abnormal Pap smear results. The mistakes have resulted in Pap smear false negative results being sent to many women in Ireland who participated in that country’s CervicalCheck program.

Facilities such as CPL contract with Ireland’s health service to process Pap smear tests. At least seventeen women have died, allegedly because of false negative reports.

According to a Washington Post report, a large clinical trial lasting ten years showed that the HPV test detects precancerous changes of the cervix earlier and more accurately than the Pap smear. This study was randomized and controlled, showing that the HPV test is more sensitive than the Pap smear which has its drawbacks.

Some experts predict that the HPV test will replace the Pap test in the future. It is recommended that women in the U.S. now get both the HPV test and the Pap smear, a practice called “co-testing.” More clinical trials are needed before dropping the Pap test in favor of the HPV test exclusively.