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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Cork woman with stage 4 cervical cancer urges women to continue screening and get vaccinated
A Cork woman with stage 4 cervical cancer, following two misdiagnosed smear tests, says she still urges women to attend regular screenings and get vaccinated. Mother-of-two Leona Macken received an apology from the HSE at the High Court on Tuesday after two of her smear tests — first in 2016 and again in 2020 — were misread. The 38-year-old hairdresser said she has since been overwhelmed with messages of support from the public, and that the apology meant 'the world' to her. She told the Irish Examiner: 'I still want women and young girls to get their vaccinations and to have their smears done. 'I paid privately for my first smear at 21 years old. I was always conscious of this'. She said taking the case to the High Court was about more than her personal experience — it was to highlight that the national cervical screening programme is 'not working properly' and must be 'properly examined.' 'This happened to me two years after Vicky Phelan, this is not ok, things need to be properly examined, how did this happen again?'. Leona Macken settled her legal action against the HSE, arising from what they said were failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2016 and 2020. Picture: Collins Courts Following the High Court apology on Wednesday, Ms Macken appeared on Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne before heading to hospital for chemotherapy. 'They (the HSE) has publicly said they have failed me, there were failures in the system that led to my stage 4 diagnosis' she said. 'I read the apology before it was read in court, and I was really happy with that. But I know it's not easy to get an apology and it's rare and that was really so important to me and my husband and our children and our family'. Ms Macken has been documenting her journey on social media in recent months. 'Having a smear is so important' she said. 'I get so many messages from women telling me they had a smear and are now having a biopsy or laser treatment because they have abnormal cells. 'I wish I had that opportunity' she continued. 'But I didn't, and instead I discovered I was at stage 1, then stage 3 and now stage 4. 'My abnormal cells were missed and I missed a chance to treat them. I really wish I had that chance to have stopped it in its tracks that's why I say to people, get your smear done." She added: 'I will make sure my daughters get their vaccines, I am speaking for them and for the other women who are going to be possibly missed in the system too. 'I trusted the system, but it let me down. Someone needs to investigate why it's going wrong'. Leona Macken and her husband Alan settled their legal action against the HSE, arising from what they said were failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2016 and 2020. Picture: Collins Courts Medical negligence solicitor Cian O'Donnell, who has represented several women affected by screening failures, supported her call. 'Leona Macken is right to encourage people to use the system, because screening does work. 'It didn't work for her, unfortunately, but Leona is clear in her message to other women and that is to engage with regular screenings and look after your health." He added: "The Minister for Health and the HSE and those in charge need to be honest with themselves and not to have this blind insistence that this programme is working. 'Not a single patient in the cervical screening programme has been investigated – Vicky Pelan's screen was never investigated. 'We need to look at the individual screeners and follow the patterns and audits must be done, but that has not happened and that is not norm in laboratories.'
The Journal
2 days ago
- Health
- The Journal
Health Minister apologises to woman after HSE admits to ‘failings' over cancer diagnosis
HEALTH MINISTER JENNIFER Carroll MacNeill has apologised to a woman after 'failings' in relation to two smear tests 'led to' her cancer diagnosis. Leona Macken (38) was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2023. She took legal action in relation to two cervical smear tests, one in 2016 and one in 2020, which medical experts said were incorrectly reported as negative. An apology from the HSE was read out in the High Court yesterday after Macken settled the legal action. The High Court heard that Macken now has incurable metastatic cancer. A letter of apology from the chief executive of the National Screening Service Fiona Murphy, on behalf of the service and the HSE, apologised for the 'failings that have occurred and led to your diagnosis'. An undisclosed settlement was made for damages and the statement expressed 'hope that this settlement will give you and your family some level of comfort, peace of mind and security'. 'Need to look into this myself' Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Macken said she felt she had to go down a legal route to get answers. 'I had been asking questions and they weren't met by the answers that I was looking for, so that's why I said I need to look into this myself. 'I didn't really know where to be going and that's when they contacted Cian O'Carroll Solicitors.' Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Carroll MacNeill said there 'should be open disclosure' and she also offered her apology to Macken. While Carroll MacNeill said 'screening programmes will always have some limitations', she added that it 'shouldn't happen' that people need to fight for an audit for their personal records. 'I don't want to provide a justification for why is it happening, it shouldn't happen,' said Carroll MacNeill. She said people in medical negligence cases need to have 'timely, open disclosure'. 'They need a resolution to their case, and they do not need additional stress going through the court process,' said Carroll MacNeill. 'These are very clear cases and it is really important that people are not provided additional stress and additional hurt through a court process when some of the issues are very clear, and that has to change. Advertisement 'There is a very different way that we need to approach medical negligence cases and how they're treated and that is one of the most important things I will be trying to address during the period that I am Minister for Health.' 'Thank God I started asking questions' Meanwhile, Macken said yesterday's apology mean a 'huge amount to her'. 'The acknowledgement of the failures and was a really good conclusion,' said Macken. 'We didn't know whether we were going to get it and there's been a lot of women in my position that didn't get that, so it is something I don't take for granted.' Macken said she had never missed a smear test and said of her diagnosis: 'How did I go from a normal smear in 2020 to cancer in 2023, it just didn't add up my head. 'Thank God I did start asking questions because I don't know if I would have ever found this out.' She added that a cancer diagnosis 'wasn't in my mind at all because I had no history of abnormalities'. Macken added that there has been 'no contact or response from the government' despite her solicitor Cian O'Carroll 'reaching out at a certain points'. She also remarked that 'there's so many things in the system that need to be rectified'. Speaking to RTÉ yesterday, O'Carroll said it is a 'complete falsehood' that there has been an improvement in the way women are told about mistakes in their smear tests. He said: 'The point Macken was making was that, standing outside the High Court in Ireland seven years on from when Vicky Phelan stood in the exact same spot, effectively nothing had changed. 'She was still complaining of similar errors, but ones that have now occurred two years after Vicky. 'Also like Vicky, she was not told of any failures in her screening.' O'Carroll added that it was 'a very big burden' for Macken to pursue the case when 'the time you have left is limited'. Macken however said she is 'determined to try and find something to get me out of this'. 'I'm not giving up, I've too much to live for,' she told Newstalk Breakfast. 'I have two beautiful children, I have an amazing family and a huge support behind me. 'In every other aspect of my life, I've always said I'm so lucky, I just have the most beautiful life, and I don't want to leave it.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
‘Something isn't working': Leona Macken urges cervical screening reform after HSE apology over smear failures
Leona Macken, the 38-year-old woman with incurable cancer who received a court apology on Tuesday from the HSE over the failures in two smear tests that led to her diagnosis, has said she would still encourage women to get screened and would ensure her daughters are vaccinated. However, she said she believes there is 'something wrong' with the cervical screening programme that must be identified and addressed. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast and later on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Ms Macken said she was 'overwhelmed' by the public support she has received. She said the HSE's court apology 'meant a huge amount' to her. 'Just the acknowledgement alone from the failures and everything, and even the words that they used, it was a really good conclusion, I suppose, to everything for us. We kind of didn't know whether we were going to get it, and there's been a lot of women in my position that didn't get that, so it is something that I don't take for granted,' she told Newstalk. The mother of two girls, aged five and eight, said on Today with Claire Byrne that while she trusted the system, its failure in her case does not mean it won't work for others. 'I would never tell someone not to get a smear. It didn't work for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. 'I have two little girls, they'll be definitely getting the vaccinations. I don't want people to take from this that I'm saying smears don't work, it's just they need to be checked more like. Something isn't working somewhere and that's what we need to find out.' Receiving the apology was crucial for both her and her husband, Alan as she had felt that she needed 'to stick up for myself.' She had done 'everything right' and had even paid for smears herself having seen the experience of Jade Goody. 'I did everything I was meant to and for them to then validate that was huge for me.' Leona Macken and her husband Alan settled their legal action against the HSE, arising from what they said were failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2016 and 2020. Picture: Collins Courts Despite two clear smear results, she said she always felt something was wrong. After two pregnancies, she assumed her symptoms might be due to hormonal changes, polycystic ovaries, endometriosis or perimenopause. But blood tests and ultrasounds were clear. 'I just did not think cancer at all because I knew I'd been so careful and I also knew it was a slow progressing cancer so I knew like that if there was something there I would have had abnormalities at some stage.' Ms Macken's current stage 4 diagnosis means 'it's treatable to a certain extent, but not curable.' "When I went in first, as you can imagine, being told you have stage 4 cancer, after being through everything else, and knowing this could have been avoided, it was gut-wrenching. I felt like, so hard done by, I'd done everything I could do. How did I get to this point,' she said. Telling her family was 'horrific.' She is currently undergoing quadruple therapy—'two chemotherapies and one or two immunotherapies,' she said. "At this point, I'm just still not giving in. I want to be the one to do it. 'I have two little girls growing up now and I'm worried about them. What's going to happen, you know? It's not good enough what's happening. I shouldn't be going through this today. I shouldn't be living this today.' Ms Macken welcomed an apology from health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and said she would love to meet her. 'I'm a very open person and I'm very open to a chat," she said. "They need to see these people in real life and see what they're going through, that they're not just a cancer, there are stories behind these people, where it's affecting my mom, my dad, where people's daughters, mothers, you know, and we shouldn't be going through it. "That's the most frustrating part is it could have been avoided.' Leona Macken settled her legal action against the HSE, arising from what they said were failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme in 2016 and 2020. Picture: Collins Courts She said she refused to give up. 'I have too much to live for. It's such a beautiful life. I have two beautiful children. I have an amazing family and a huge support behind me. In every other aspect of my life, I've always said I'm so lucky. I just have the most beautiful life and I just don't want to leave it." But, she added, serious reform is needed. "The auditing was stopped in 2018. It hasn't been picked up since. It was stopped weeks after Vicky Phelan's case," she said on Newstalk. "The Patient Safety Act of 2013 states that if this is even picked back up, it must remain anonymous. So the patients aren't necessarily being told the results. There are so many things in the system that need to be rectified like it needs to be looked at. It's just not good enough. It's people's family, it's people's daughters, kids are losing their mommies." On Morning Ireland, Minister Carroll MacNeill offered a personal apology and said that women should not have to fight for access to their medical history. 'There should be open disclosure and that's very, very clear and I want to offer my apology too in this case because what you have here is a 38-year-old woman who has been impacted in this way and so have her family and that is so, so important.' The Minister acknowledged that all screening programmes have limitations but said 'this should never have happened.' "What we want is people in medical negligence cases to have absolutely timely open disclosure, they need a resolution to their case and they do not need additional stress going through the court process. 'Obviously the state needs to manage it to a certain extent in terms of the broader liability but these are very, very clear cases and it is really important that people are treated and not provided additional stress and additional hurt through a court process."
Extra.ie
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Could former GP Ciara be just what the doctor ordered for Liveline?
Liveline contender Ciara Kelly has highlighted her credentials in the race to replace Joe Duffy – but knows the veteran broadcaster will be an 'extremely hard act to follow'. The Newstalk Breakfast host is one of several names in the running to take the Liveline hot seat when Duffy departs on the last Friday of June. Asked about the prospect of going solo after five years presenting as a duo with Shane Coleman, Kelly pointed out she did three years on Lunchtime Live – 'the Newstalk equivalent' to Liveline – before taking the morning slot. Liveline contender Ciara Kelly has highlighted her credentials in the race to replace Joe Duffy – but knows the veteran broadcaster will be an 'extremely hard act to follow'. Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos The former GP told 'I did the first ever interactive radio show on Newstalk. I took over from George Hook in that slot and grew the audience very nicely. So yes, I did do that role, and it went well actually.' Remaining coy as to whether she has been approached by RTÉ, the former Operation Transformation contributor said she 'couldn't possibly say anything about any of that'. 'I'm sure Liveline would be an amazing job for anyone who was lucky enough to get it. But I have no real comment other than that, obviously, I have a great job [at Newstalk] myself as well.' Further pressed on her suitability, Kelly noted: 'I suppose I do like talking to people and all of that kind of thing, absolutely. 'But having said that, I have no idea if I'm in the running for Liveline or not. That obviously is out of my hands entirely.' The GP-turned-broadcaster acknowledged that Duffy will be 'an extremely hard act to follow' for whoever ends up in his chair, after his 27 years fronting the show. Pic: RTÉ The GP-turned-broadcaster acknowledged that Duffy will be 'an extremely hard act to follow' for whoever ends up in his chair, after his 27 years fronting the show. 'And he's a lovely man,' she added. 'I would know Joe a little bit, and he's obviously an icon as well, and made [Liveline] his own. So I think for anyone filling those shoes, it would be an enormous task.' The Greystones, Co. Wicklow-raised presenter said she has been a Liveline listener, since 'even before Joe's days', when the show was hosted by the late Marian Finucane, whom Kelly described as 'probably the best broadcaster Ireland has ever produced'. 'I think Marian was gifted in her touch, not only in current affairs but in her ability to get people to open up to her and to talk to her,' Kelly said. 'And I think that's something that she shares with Joe, actually – that people saw both of them as almost like a friend, someone you could really talk to.' Kelly has worked on RTÉ TV shows before, including as a medical expert on Operation Transformation and presenting duties on the magazine's health show, Doctors On Call. (Ciara Kelly on Operation Transformation). Pic: Gareth Chaney Collins The Newstalk woman called the 40-year-old RTÉ staple Liveline 'an institution of Irish radio' that has 'a finger on the pulse of the country'. Kelly has worked on RTÉ TV shows before, including in her role as medical expert on Operation Transformation and presenting duties on the magazine health show Doctors On Call. She is a former client of Noel Kelly, the agent whose books include much of RTÉ's top talent, and who became a household name himself during the secret payments scandal in 2023. She was one of several stars to part company with NK Management in the wake of that story, citing her duty as a broadcaster to report on it without bias. Kelly told the Irish Independent in July 2023: 'In order to fully interrogate the RTÉ payments issue going forward, to remain impartial and fulfil my objective public service broadcasting remit. 'I believe I have to now step away from the agency and as of today, I no longer retain them as my agent.' Kelly's Newstalk colleague Andrea Gilligan has also been mentioned as a potential replacement for Duffy. The Donegal woman is the current presenter of Lunchtime Live – similar in format to Liveline – and has been praised for her easy manner with callers. Katie Hannon and Philip Boucher-Hayes, who have often stood in for Duffy over the years, have also been mooted as obvious considerations for RTÉ. Rose of Tralee host Dáithí Ó Sé is reportedly a strong contender too, while Dancing With The Stars presenter Jennifer Zamparelli was the bookies' favourite at one stage.
Sunday World
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
Senator ‘doesn't regret voting against same sex marriage' on 10th anniversary of referendum
In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise gay marriage through a popular vote. Senator Ronan Mullen says he doesn't regret voting against same sex marriage as activists celebrate the 10th anniversary of the historic referendum. 'The more things started kicking off, the more I felt that there were arguments that were more persuasive for keeping the definition of marriage based on the relationship between men and women,' he told Newstalk Breakfast. 'I felt and still think that has a particular social function as the social ideal for the upbringing of children. 'I felt there were other ways of respecting other people's private lives and personal choices - for me, it certainly was never about not respecting private lives and personal choices,' he continued. Mullen said he thinks a lot of people voted in favour to send a message of love and solidarity to gay people or as a 'social atonement for past cruelties.' 'I just felt those instincts were generous but it was the wrong answer.' He also said he views 'progressivism' as a 'failing ideology.' 'I think people are seeing that all of these claims for rights are actually in the long-term letting people down.' The Independent senator said he would still campaign for a 'no vote' if the referendum was held today. Celebrations following the result of the Marriage Equality Referendum in 2015. Photo: Brian Lawless 'I would reiterate that I wasn't for or against anybody or their private life or personal choices. 'Everybody is expected now to conform to a particular view - this is what we call woke culture,' he said. 'We see it in the way people are made to feel cancelled if they have the wrong ideas. Mullen said he would support a 'no vote' by making the same argument he made before. 'I would say, 'Marriage is ideally about the upbringing of children and therefore men women relationships matter for that purpose in a way that society should acknowledge. Senator Rónán Mullen News in 90 Seconds - May 22nd ''But let's look at how we respect the private lives and the needs and the rights of people - including same sex couples, in fact anybody who is mutually dependent and caring for somebody else.'' In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise gay marriage through a popular vote. 62% of voters said yes to the thirty-fourth amendment of the Irish Constitution. The act came into force on November 16th 2015, with the very first same sex marriage taking place the following day.
