Health chiefs are to fight a claim that doctors failed to treat a breast cancer victim properly before she died.

Widower George Clegg is suing Oxfordshire Health Authority for more than £100,000 after an operation failed to wipe out his wife Joan's cancer.

Joan, 46, of Broughton Road, Banbury, died in June 1996 after cancer in her right breast spread to her liver.

The health authority said Mrs Clegg had a mastectomy in November 1990 at the Horton Hospital, Banbury, to remove a lump from her right breast and was given appropriate aftercare. She appeared to be in the clear, but in January 1995 she was diagnosed as having cancerous lymph nodes and, despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it spread to her liver.

Mr Clegg issued a writ in the High Court against Oxfordshire Health Authority and the Horton General Hospital Trust, claiming doctors failed to treat his wife properly at the time of the original operation.

The writ states that "Proper treatment at the time (of the breast removal) would probably have led to a cure ie. no further recurrence of the cancer." Mr Clegg is claiming damages "exceeding £100,000" for funeral expenses, loss of wages and loss of dependency. Mrs Clegg had a £16,000 a year job with the Contributions Agency at the time of her death.

The writ states that Mr Clegg and his wife "enjoyed a long-standing, happy and close-knit relationship".

Witness statements were taken in January this year and the health authority said expert reports on the case were about to be exchanged.

An authority spokesman said: "Medical experts are of the firm opinion that Mrs Clegg was given entirely appropriate treatment for the time, which is why Oxfordshire Health Authority is fighting the claim."

Story date: Thursday 13 May

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