Theater makeup artist Megan Royle, 32, was diagnosed with skin cancer and had to suspend her activities to dedicate herself to immunotherapy treatment at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, in England, in 2019. However, after needing to move house in 2021 — and consequently from the place of treatment —, she discovered that she never had the disease. The case was reported this week in the international press, after Megan reached an out-of-court agreement to receive compensation for the inconvenience.
“You just can’t believe that something like this could happen, and to this day I haven’t had an explanation of how or why it happened,” said Royle, who even froze her eggs before starting treatment, as she feared that the therapy would stop her of having children. “You think the immediate emotion would be relief, and in a sense it was, but I would say the bigger emotions were frustration and anger,” she added.
The problem started with a wart on one of his arms. After seeing a family doctor, she was referred to Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, in Chelsea (London, England). There, she underwent a biopsy, and was informed that a melanoma had been identified. The Englishwoman even looked for another unit, the Royal Marsden Hospital, which agreed to the first analysis after a new biopsy.
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The scar left after surgery — Photo: Reproduction
Megan then underwent surgery to remove what was believed to be the “cancer”. She then began immunotherapy treatment, lasting nine cycles. In May 2021, she was informed that the disease had been eliminated.
Healthy, the makeup artist moved to the north, to another part of the country. There, another hospital consulted her files and reported that an error had occurred.
“This was obviously a very unusual case as Megan was wrongly diagnosed with skin cancer, something which obviously had a significant psychological impact on her given her young age. The situation was worsened by the need for surgery and the fact that she was informed that the only treatment she could receive could affect her fertility,” said lawyer Matthew Gascoyne, who specializes in medical negligence. Sought by Megan, he obtained an out-of-court settlement with the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for the hospitals that made the diagnosis.
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The makeup artist won the case against two trusts responsible for the diagnostic error — Photo: Reproduction
When contacted, a spokesperson for the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust wrote: “We wish to offer our sincere apologies to Megan Royle for the distress caused by her experience at our hospital and are pleased that a settlement has been reached.”
North West London Pathology, a partner of Imperial College NHS Trust, also commented: “We deeply regret the distress caused to Ms Royle and apologize unreservedly for the error made. While no agreement will make up for the impact this has had, we are pleased that an agreement has been reached.”
