Featured Image Credit: Jessica Brady Cedar Trust
Topics: Health, NHS, Cancer, Coronavirus
Britt Jones
GPs in the UK are being given new rules for diagnosing patients after a 27-year-old died from cancer despite having contacted her doctor more than 20 times.
Jessica Brady, from the UK, sadly passed away at the age of 27 after she had visited her doctor's office several times during the summer of 2020.
Brady was reportedly told she had symptoms of long Covid and that she was ‘too young for cancer’, according to a report from the BBC.
She had started to feel unwell in the summer before her death, with her mum, Andrea, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today program that she was healthy when the pandemic began.
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However, her symptoms became ‘increasingly debilitating’.
"She had unintentionally lost quite a lot of weight, had night sweats, chronic fatigue, a persistent cough and very enlarged lymph nodes," Andrea said. "But because of her age, it was obviously considered there wasn't anything wrong."
Brady had contacted six different doctors at her doctor's surgery and had three face-to-face consultations with a family doctor to find out what was wrong.
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But allegedly, no referral was made.
To find another opinion, the family ended up making a private appointment, and Brady was referred to a specialist.
Sadly, it was too late for treatment by the time she was diagnosed with Stage 4 adenocarcinoma in November 2020.
Just three weeks later, and days before Christmas, Brady passed away.
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According to Cleveland Clinic: "Adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer. It starts in the glands that line your organs.
"Adenocarcinoma cancers can affect several areas of your body, including your lungs, stomach, pancreas and colon."
Following her death, a new rule has been brought in for doctors in the UK, known as Jess’ Rule.
Today, it has been rolled out across the National Health Service (NHS) in a bid to prevent further deaths.
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The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England press reads that there will now be a 'three strikes and rethink approach’ after patients make three appointments.
The UK government's press release explained: "In the five months leading up to her death, Jessica had more than twenty appointments with her GP (general practitioner) practice but eventually had to seek private healthcare.
"She was later diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma. With such an advanced disease, there was no available treatment. She was admitted into hospital where she died three weeks later," it added.
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Treatment for the cancer type ‘includes surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy’ says the Cleveland Clinic, however, ‘survival rates vary depending on the location, stage and type of adenocarcinoma'.
The new initiative will now ask GPs to ‘think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to offer a substantiated diagnosis’, or the patient’s symptoms have increased.
The release continued: "While many GP practices already use similar approaches in complex cases, Jess’s Rule will make this standard practice across the country, aiming to reduce health inequalities and ensuring everyone – no matter their age or background – receives the same high standard of care."
Andrea said of the new rule, which was included within the release: "Jess lived for just three short weeks following her terminal cancer diagnosis.
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"Despite her shock and devastation, she showed unfailing courage, positivity, dignity, and love. Jess was determined that people should understand how desperately she had tried to advocate for herself and seek a resolution for her declining health.
"In the bleak weeks following the loss of Jess, I [realized] it was my duty to continue what she had started. It has taken nearly five years to bring about Jess’s Rule. I would like to dedicate this initiative to all the young people who have been diagnosed too late," she added.
"It has only been made possible because of the people who have listened — politicians, medics, and the nearly half a million who supported the campaign.”
UNILAD reached out to the NHS for comment.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.