Medical negligence claims and celebrity influence

Revelations such as those made by Kylie Minogue when she told the world how she had initially received a breast cancer misdiagnosis have the power to reduce the medical negligence claim rate.

This is because, inevitably, when celebrities like Minogue speak openly about such sensitive subjects, other women feel empowered to take control of their own health and bodies.

Although the popstar did not say whether she ever thought she might have grounds for making a medical negligence claim for the misdiagnosis, she did tell chat show host Ellen DeGeneres that people should not always take an initial diagnosis at face value.

Minogue said that the first consultant had told her that she was "perfectly fine" and should continue her Showgirl tour as normal; only weeks later, the singer was told that she did have breast cancer. Happily, she appears to have now made a full recovery.

She warned against placing 100 per cent trust in any doctor, saying, "So my message to all of you and everyone at home is, because someone is in a big white coat and uses medical instruments doesn't necessarily mean they're right.

"I don't want to frighten people but that's just a fact. You must follow your intuition and if you have any doubt go back again."

However, Minogue was at pains to point out that she has a great deal of respect and admiration for those working within medicine, "I have great respect for the medical profession and the numerous, in fact countless, people who helped me on my road back to health. I am in the very best of hands now. But it is a fact that my initial diagnosis was that I was all right, and had nothing to worry about'. A few weeks later this was clearly not the case."

She also echoed DeGeneres' previous guest, Hilary Clinton, in highlighting the importance of early detection, "Early diagnosis and prompt treatment is the key for any woman diagnosed with breast cancer."

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