A MAN is taking legal action against the NHS after receiving eight years of “unnecessary” gruelling chemotherapy.
David Bown, from Atherstone in Warwickshire, was diagnosed with a brain tumour 10 years ago, after experiencing a series of seizures.
He underwent surgery to remove the mass at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
But David, now 41, believes that delayed scans and surgical intervention following the removal of the tumour and “unnecessary chemotherapy”, has left him suffering irreversible neurological damage.
Guidance urges medics to only prescribe the chemotherapy drug temozolomide for six cycles, normally over six months – or for a maximum of 12 for low-grade gliomas, a type of brain tumour.
Yet, David was given the medication for eight years after surgery.
The former IT manager and keen footballer, is among more than 30 patients now taking legal action against the health service, claiming they received the drug for too long.
All patients who were prescribed temozolomide were treated under the supervision of Professor Ian Brown, a consultant oncologist who has now retired.
Professor Brown is currently subject to an investigation by the medical regulator, the General Medical Council.
Lawyers have claimed that David’s prolonged chemotherapy exposed him to unnecessary risks, including increased chances of secondary blood cancers.
He now lives with significant cognitive and visual impairment and requires daily support from his parents to manage his medication, prepare meals, and attend appointments.
He also experiences depression, which lawyers say is linked directly to the years of debilitating treatment.
David said: “I went from living a normal, active life – working, coaching kids’ football, seeing my mates – to being completely dependent on my mum and dad for everything.
“I trusted the hospital to do what was best for me but looking back, I just can’t understand why I was treated the way I was for so long.
“It has taken everything from me.
“I cry myself to sleep at night – I dream where I can see and then I wake up and I can’t see. It’s a nightmare.”
Within 48 hours of his operation to remove the tumour, he should have had an MRI scan, which lawyers claim would have highlighted life-threatening complications.
But he did not have any scan for four days.
Even when the results came back he was kept on the ward and another scan was requested rather than send him to a theatre for emergency surgery, they also claimed.
After later suffering a stroke, he became comatose and was then rushed for surgery.
The surgery relieved the pressure on the brain and drained the fluid but lawyers said the delayed scanning and surgical intervention was performed too late to prevent irreversible brain damage.
He was then prescribed temozolomide chemotherapy and continued on the drug for over eight years.
Fiona Tinsley, partner at the law firm Brabners, said: “David was a young man with his whole future ahead of him.
“The cumulative effect of these failings has robbed him of his independence, his health and years of his life.”
Fiona added: “What began as concerns about chemotherapy in Coventry now points to systemic failings across a number of practice areas in the trust, involving neuro-oncology clinicians, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, clinical nurse specialists and pharmacists at UHCW.
“The human cost has been devastating.
“People were told they would have months to live without treatment and endured years of debilitating treatment, believing it was keeping them alive.
“The burden of these failures has been profound. Patients have suffered physical, psychological, and financial harm, including loss of career, fertility, and quality of life.
“For many there is also no end in sight, with some patients becoming infertile and going into early menopause and one developing secondary leukaemia requiring a stem cell transplant.
“All patients involved have also been placed at increased risk of secondary cancers.
“These patients deserve answers and assurance that the NHS has learned from this, so it never happens again.
“These patients deserve answers, accountability and assurance that every lesson is being learned. This is in the public interest.”
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: “We are committed to providing the safest possible care for our patients.
“As a legal claim is ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this stage.”
