Two women have spoken out after they were both misdiagnosed with cancer.
As a result, both of the women had their breasts removed.
Rachel, 60, told the 7.30 Report: ‘I lost faith in the medical system’ after having her left breast removed in 2013.
The same thing happened to a 25-year-old woman who underwent a mastectomy for no reason.
Recounting the moment she was told she didn’t actually have cancer, Rachel said: ‘He said to me: ‘I’ve got good news and bad news to tell you: the good news is you don’t have breast cancer. The bad news is you never did have breast cancer and we should never have taken your breast off’.’
‘I lost faith in the medical system in Darwin. In fact, after it happened to me, all the colleagues I worked with said, ‘Oh, don’t you know? You live in Darwin. The saying is: you feel the pain, book a plane. And this information came to me after, a little bit late.’
Now, Rachel, who has received compensation, is warning other women to seek a second opinion.
Dr Charles Pain, executive director of medical services at Top End Health Service said, ‘Pathology unfortunately is an imprecise science. It’s really a matter of judgment as to what diagnosis you make. So that’s why we try and introduce — and have done since then — a double reading process so you actually get two pathologists looking at the same thing.’
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