UK mom dies of cervical cancer after doctors wrongly mark abnormal pap smear, told her biopsy was clear

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By Alyssa Guzman

A British mother died from Stage IV cervical cancer after her doctors wrongly marked an abnormal pap smear and biopsy as clear.

Kerry Pugh, 48, passed away in June 2022 after she was told her results came back normal, despite experiencing bleeding.

“I can’t begin to describe the distress and exhaustion that Kerry went through,” her husband Steven said, according to BBC. “She was a beautiful and caring person and a great mum. To see her health deteriorate as the cancer took hold of her was heartbreaking.”

The mom-of-three underwent checks after she started experiencing bleeding after sex around 2017 and had a decade-long history of abnormal cells on her cervix, according to BBC.

In 2018, she got a routine pap smear that she was told came back normal, but after her death in June 2022, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital audited her paperwork and found that wasn’t the case.

Doctors at the hospital had not been able to find the definite cause of her bleeding the year before, but she was marked as being high risk for contracting HPV and later received a biopsy and had pain at the base of her spine.

She was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and an MRI scan found a large tumor the size of a tennis ball.

She underwent an operation and began radiation and chemotherapy, but later succumbed to the disease in June 2022.

Following her death, an audit found that her cervical cancer test had come back showing signs of severe cell change.

This prompted her husband to hire medical negligence lawyer Irwin Mitchell to see if the hospital could have diagnosed her cancer sooner.

Steven is also considering taking legal action and now urges women to be aware of the signs of cervical cancer, which is often diagnosed at late stages.

He said his wife, despite her disease, always put her family first and that she was “absolutely everything to me and we all miss her every day.”

Pugh leaves behind three children, Morgan, 24; Lily, 14; and Freddie, 11, according to The Sun.

The hospital and Telford Hospital NHS Trust — who helped with the audit — offered condolences to the family.

“We continue to support Mr. Pugh with any questions regarding the care of his wife,” Medical Director Dr. John Jones said in a statement.