Man’s ‘Sizable, Aggressive’ Lung Tumor Ends Up Being A Pea

Solihull, UK – There might soon be a demand to send doctors across the pond to medical school a bit longer than usual after one man’s “sizable, aggressive” tumor ended up being a pea that went down thew wrong chute.

Roger Lintern, 56, is angry over the misdiagnosis of his 85-year-old father William. The elder Lintern was diagnosed with cancer after a lump was spotted in one of his lungs. Doctors began treating him for the disease, but it was too late. According to Roger, William had already “lost the will to live” over the diagnosis.

The tragic part? William’s “sizable, aggressive” tumor was just a humble pea. The really tragic part? William actually died of pneumonia during his treatment.

The Lintern family are naturally upset and believe that William would still be alive today if he hadn’t been misdiagnosed.

“I am certain he would have been alive today had they found out he had the virus much earlier and treated him correctly in the first place,” said Roger.

“When my dad was told he had cancer, he lost the will to live. His body started to pack up and he was convinced he wouldn’t survive. But all along, it was just a pea stuck in his right lung.”

Lintern complained of difficulty breathing and other symptoms of pneumonia, but, since he was a two-time cancer survivor, that’s what doctors looked for. Since his previous check-up two months prior came back clean, the pea was determined to be an aggressive tumor, and Lintern was treated for cancer.

His condition deteriorated, and doctors instead began treating him for pneumonia while performing a bronchoscopy, which would actually determine whether or not he had cancer.

It came back negative. Doctors finally determined that it was a pea instead of a tumor, but it was too late. Lintern died a few days later on his birthday.

Roger Lintern placed a formal complaint with the hospital and is considering legal action. The hospital did not immediately respond to Lintern’s complaint but issued the following statement:

“We are extremely sorry that there has been a delay in responding to Mr Lintern’s complaint. This is unacceptable and is not the high standard that we aim for when responding to concerns raised by patients and their families. We will be investigating the delay further and will directly contact Mr Lintern to address this matter.

“The safety and care of all our patients is a priority for our doctors and nurses and if there is a case where we have not delivered the best care possible, we will always investigate into why and how we can do things better. We would like to send our sincerest condolences to the Lintern family at this sad time.”

What do you think? Should Roger Lintern sue the hospital over their pea misdiagnosis?

[Image via: Renee Comet, National Cancer Institute]