Cervical cancer victim heads to court for retrial against Bottrill

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

The woman whose failed lawsuit led to the Gisborne cervical cancer inquiry is heading to court in November for the retrial of her case against a retired pathologist.

The woman, whose name is suppressed, said last night that she still hoped to reach an out-of-court settlement in her exemplary damages case against Dr Michael Bottrill.

"I hope we don't have to go back to court, but we are certainly tracking along that route to return," said the woman, known to Herald readers as Jane.

Dr Bottrill misread her cervical smear test results, interpreting high grade abnormalities as normal.

Dozens of other women developed cervical cancer and some died after under-reporting of cervical smears during the 1990s by Dr Bottrill.

Jane discovered in 1995 she had invasive cancer.

She had a hysterectomy, radiation and other medical treatment which has left her with permanent nerve damage in one leg.

Jane lost her first lawsuit against Dr Bottrill in 1999, but the High Court judge granted a retrial in 2000.

The Court of Appeal overturned the retrial decision, but the Privy Council reinstated it last year.

If the case is not settled beforehand, it is now scheduled to go to a trial before Justice Robert Fisher in the High Court at Auckland for three weeks, starting on November 24.

"The door to settlement is certainly open from [Jane's] point of view," Jane's lawyer, Antonia Fisher, said yesterday.

"To date negotiations haven't been successful."

But Dr Bottrill's lawyer, Christopher Hodson, said: "If anyone has to open the door, it's [Jane]. There have been some discussions, but ... the ball is at her foot, rather than Dr Bottrill's."

Separately, the Government has made a range of compensation offers, of up to $30,000, to each of 61 other women affected by Dr Bottrill's misreading of smear results.

Some of the women have accepted the compensation, but an increase, to $50,000, has been sought for the worst-affected.