Vicky Phelan Wiki – Vicky Phelan Biography
Vicky Phelan, a terminally ill activist who exposed a cervical cancer screening scandal, died on Monday. She was 48 years old. President Michael D Higgins led a slew of tributes to Phelan’s courage and how she shed light on health care failures that affected hundreds of other women Thanks to her tireless efforts, despite the terrible personal cost she had to bear, the lives of many women have been and will be protected in the future,” Higgins said. ”
All those who were in awe of her courage, her resilience, offered not only to women but to all of us in Ireland, she will be sorely missed.” Phelan died at Milford Hospice in County Limerick early Monday surrounded by her family, a death that could have been prevented if a smear test in 2011 had detected abnormalities. She gave a false negative. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and she began treatment weeks later. A review by the Irish Health Service Executive uncovered the error three years earlier, but no one told Phelan until 2017.
Vicky Phelan Age
Vicky Phelan was 48 years old.
Vicky Phelan Cause of Death
A year later, she discovered the cancer was terminal. She sued and won a $2.5 million no-fault settlement from Clinical Pathology Laboratories, a Texas-based company subcontracted to evaluate her test. Crucially, she resisted a gag order and lifted the lid on a broader debacle. Inaccurate smear test results had been given to at least 208 women who were later diagnosed with cervical cancer. Most were not told about the revised results.
At least 21 have died. An investigation detailed how the HSE outsourced screening to unapproved laboratories in the UK and US, failed to keep track of them and had an inadequate system to respond to screening errors. The inquiry criticized the “system-wide failure” and “paternalism” in Irish health care.
The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, praised Phelan’s courage and integrity. “In the history of this country, I think his actions, in particular his failure to sign a confidentiality agreement at that particular time outside the high court stands, will long live in memory as an example of someone who stood up to the system and normal conventions,” he told RTÉ. “She defended the public interest.”
Phelan was festooned with honors, invited to talk shows and featured in documentaries. Her memoir, Overcoming, won awards. But all the while, her cancer was advancing: in 2018 she was told that she had less than a year to live. She successfully fought for access to pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy drug that shrank the tumor and prolonged her life. “I’ve always been stubborn and stubborn,” she told The Guardian in 2019.
“I thought: I’m not going to take this. I have two small children. Honestly, you can’t tell me to go home and die. I was so fucking angry.” He tried not to think about how an accurate smear test could have saved his life. “If I go down that path, I fall into a spiral of depression. I don’t have time on my side.” … we have a small favor to ask. Millions turn to The Guardian for quality, independent, open news every day, and readers in 180 countries around the world now support us financially.
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