Govt. slammed for failing women trapped in cervical cancer scandal

A MAYO Oireachtas member has spoken about the continued failure of the government to care for women who have suffered because of the cervical cancer scandal.

Senator Conway-Walsh hit out: “We learn that another woman was forced to go to the High Court to get approval for a drug to keep her alive.

“She is one of a small cohort of patients suitable for treating her cancer with pembrolizumab.

“This is completely unacceptable, and the response of the HSE had been a refusal by silence to discharge its statutory functions and duties.

“The only option for this woman is to seek remedy in the courts, for the failure to detect abnormalities which lead to her cancer and the subsequent refusal of the HSE to exclude her records from the independent panel.

“Yet again it is empty promises made to the women who have been let down by this state.

“This government is certainly not honouring the women who have lost their lives because of the government decision to farm out cervical smear testing and disregarding the clinical advice and warnings of the likely impact of that decision.

“I have requested that Health Minister Harris come to the Seanad to address this ongoing saga.”