There must be nothing worse for women to be told you have breast cancer and the only option is a mastectomy which involves the removal of a breast. Imagine how you would feel if you were told that you never had cancer in the first place and the mastectomy was completely unnecessary. Just the though of loosing a breast is scary in itself, but the thought of going through the emotional trauma of loosing a breast because of misdiagnosis is totally imaginable but must be must be completely horrendous. Being a women my first reaction would be anger and then revenge. But how can you take on this type of revenge, they say ‘revenge is sweet' but is it really. Even if you did manage to get some sort of revenge you will still be left with the physical and metal scars of having a breast removed.

To right a wrong which you have suffered you would need some things to happen. You would need total healing of every emotional and physical hurt which was inflicted upon you. You would have to be fully compensated for every aspect of the distress caused so that you have not the slightest regret that it ever happened. I doubt this is possible under the above circumstances. It would also help if everyone who matters to you would fully understand how much you have suffered, and to empathize with you. You would need for everyone to know that you did not deserve the treatment you received. You would need to see justice fully executed, so that the gravity of the offense against you is fully recognized and dealt with.

Now not all of this will happen, but there is a way of getting justice and that is through claiming compensation. Claiming compensation is fair and just and should be pursued. It is your legal and civil right to do so. Obviously no amount of money could really compensate for loosing a breast, but with money you could get reconstructive surgery to correct the terrible mistake. Unfortunately breast cancer is sadly quite common around 41 thousand new cases are diagnosed every year, many too late for treatment. Those with cancer found at an early stage can be treated and go on to live long and happy lives. However more and more cases are not diagnosed or misdiagnosed meaning the cancer grows on and spreads throughout the body.

The most upsetting thing is that when we visit our GP or hospital we put all our faith into the professionals' hands and they really have your life in their hands. This is a scary prospect really. Now obviously we all make mistakes, but mistakes by medical professionals can have a profound effect which could affect the quality of the rest of that person's life. This is why there should be stringent precautions to stop these types of accidents happen. If a doctor is working very long shifts then accidents are inevitably going to happen. The powers that be need to ensure all of their staff are only working the recommended amount of hours before having a break. They need to be fully trained and aware of all the latest viruses and medical breakthroughs. There must be plenty of other ways to improve medical professionals working conditions to ensure that errors really are minimal. Until that time comes we are at the mercy of the medical professionals and have to put our trust into them. For those that do suffer because of malpractice the only thing to do is claim compensation. The more people claim and the higher these organisations insurance will rocket. When this does happen this is probably when the powers that be think enough is enough. Unfortunately money talks. It is such a terrible shame it takes someone's suffering and a large insurance payout for the directors of these medical institutes to sit up and take notice. Carolyn is the webmaster of Accident Consult Ltd, specialists in medical malpractice claims.