Women who receive Pap smears rarely think they will be a victim of missed cervical cancer. Women all over the world count on the Pap smear results to warn them when cells from the cervix begin to appear abnormal.

Unfortunately, at least 18 women from Ireland have died due to misread Pap smears that could have caught the cancer while it was still in the more treatable pre-cancerous stage.

The Health Service Executive, Ireland’s public health services provider, is investigating how and why women received false negatives on Pap smears done the nation’s cervical cancer screening program known as CervicalCheck. This missed cervical cancer can prove deadly.

One woman, Irene T., had Pap smears done in both 2010 and 2013 that showed no signs of cancer or pre-cancerous activity. In 2015, when she could not stop bleeding after the birth of her youngest child, she went to the doctor for tests. She was stunned to find out she was diagnosed with Stage 2 cervical cancer.

Irene fought the missed cervical cancer by enduring eight months of radiation and chemotherapy, but she passed away in July 2017. The cancer had spread to her liver and her lungs.

According to Irene’s husband, the hospital allegedly received notice that Irene’s missed cervical cancer was a result of misread Pap smears, but the hospital decided not to tell her of their finding.

Her husband insists she would have wanted to know why she had not been diagnosed until she was a Stage 2 cervical cancer patient.

Labs Allegedly Missed Cervical Cancer

The HSE uses two laboratories in Ireland and Quest Diagnostics in the U.S.

Quest Diagnostics and the HSE have settled at least one lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was diagnosed with terminally ill cervical cancer after the lab missed cervical cancer through her Pap smear.

The HSE says more than 90 percent of Ireland’s Pap smears are analyzed by Quest Diagnostics in New Jersey.

The Pap smear has been a reliable test for more than 60 years, but the results lend themselves to human error. Each smear must be examined under a microscope by the human eye. Minute changes in cellular structure are not always obvious to the human eyes, which can suffer fatigue after looking at slides all day long.

In Ireland, the Faculty of Pathology at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland are in the process of creating an expert advisory group to provide guidance to the screening program.

Louise Burke, chairwoman and incoming dean and chairwoman of the Faculty of Pathology and clinical professor at Cork University Hospital/University College Cork was quoted in a press release, saying, “Cervical screening, which involves the pathological analysis of cells from the cervix for precancerous changes, still remains the most reliable and effective way of preventing and detecting early cancers when performed within a nationally organized screening service. Therefore, we continue to urge women to present for routine screening.”

If you or someone you love has developed cervical cancer as the result missed cervical cancer in a Pap smear, you could be eligible for compensation through legal representation.