Cancer misdiagnosis at Royal Darwin Hospital saw two women have breasts removed

One of the women, Rachel (not her real name), shared her story with 7.30 in the hope of helping others avoid the nightmare she endured.

Rachel, 60, moved to Darwin late in 2012 to support her daughter-in-law and grandchildren while her son, a soldier, was posted to Afghanistan.

In July 2013, after getting a routine mammogram, she had a biopsy tested at the Royal Darwin Hospital and a senior surgeon brought her the devastating news that she had breast cancer and her whole left breast would need to be removed “urgently”.

“And it was performed rather quickly, within two weeks,” she said.

Just weeks later, Rachel was called in to see her surgeon at the hospital.

“And that’s when he said to me: ‘I’ve got good news and bad news to tell you: the good news is you don’t have breast cancer. The bad news is you never did have breast cancer and we should never have taken your breast off’.”

“I started to really feel the impact of that, the horror of that mistake. How dare they make this mistake?” she said.

“I lost faith in the medical system in Darwin. In fact, after it happened to me, all the colleagues I worked with said, ‘Oh, don’t you know? You live in Darwin. The saying is: you feel the pain, book a plane. And this information came to me after, a little bit late.”


Royal Darwin Hospital says all recommendations from a review of the pathology department had been implemented. (ABC News: Nadia Daly)
7.30 has confirmed Professor John Skinner was the pathologist responsible for misdiagnosing Rachel in 2013.

The hospital said that after identifying the error himself and reporting it to the hospital, Professor Skinner continued to work there for several months before his retirement, with some restrictions on his practice.

However Rachel’s case was not unique.

A 25-year-old breastfeeding mother in Alice Springs was also misdiagnosed by Professor Skinner and had a mastectomy.

While Rachel has been compensated by the hospital — the details of which she cannot disclose for legal reasons — the young mother is yet to receive compensation for the 2013 mistake.

7.30 has learned Professor Skinner mistook the natural changes in the breast from her pregnancy for cancerous cells.