The Estate of a Deceased brought a claim against a gastroenterologist alleging negligence in treating the Deceased, more particularly, delay in realizing that the Deceased was suffering from colorectal cancer. The Deceased had sought the gastroenterologist’s services due to abdominal discomfort. He was submitted to a colonoscopy and a barium enema examination, the results of which showed 2-3 disturbances in the sigmoid region of the colon but without any pathological symptoms. A few months later, the Deceased underwent an examination in Greece and was diagnosed with a tumour in the colon. He underwent several operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in Cyprus and abroad but eventually passed away around four years later.
Our defence focused on the argument that the result would be the same even if the doctor had discovered the tumour earlier.
The Court held, inter alia, that there was no causal link between the delay in diagnosis and the harmful effect on the Deceased. The Court also held that the claim was statute-barred for having been filed outside the 3-year limitation period for such claims.