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Consultant: Jade Goody's cancer could have been spotted earlier
Last updated at 09:13am on 27.05.09A Harley Street consultant who treated Jade Goody has questioned the NHS for allegedly failing to spot her cancer earlier.
Max Clifford, her friend and publicist, said Dr Ann Coxon, a doctor introduced by him to Goody last year, had been "very angry" over an alleged failure to spot her illness earlier.
Late treatment: Jade Goody
"Her doctor was very upset and very angry with the way the NHS looked after her and failed to diagnose the cancer that was growing for such a long time." he said.
Dr Coxon, speaking in the E4 documentary Jade: As Seen On TV, said she had advised Mr Clifford to pull Goody out of Big Boss, the Indian equivalent of Big Brother, as soon as possible.
She said she had immediately taken Goody to London's Royal Marsden Hospital for appropriate tests on her return from India.
Dr Coxon explained: "Max Clifford rang me when Jade was in Big Brother in India because he had heard from her doctor that a cervical smear, that was done when she attended simply to get her immunisation, had shown a cancer and he wanted to know if he had to pull her out of Big Brother and I said yes."
"As soon as Jade came back from India, I saw her and took her through various tests and got her to the right people at the Marsden."
"When she had an abnormal smear after her miscarriage it would be normal for the hospital to send a routine letter advising her to get in touch to have another smear and she failed to respond."
She added: "For some reason her cervix was never examined and she never had a cervical smear in spite of the fact it was known she had had problems previously."
Goody, who died on Mother's Day earlier this year, was given a diagnosis of cervical cancer while taking part in the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother last August.
The mother of two and former dental nurse who was originally from Bermondsey, south London, first came into the public spotlight in 2002 when she appeared in the third series of the Channel 4 reality programme Big Brother.
In an interview in September, Goody said she had no plans to sue the NHS hospital she claimed was late in diagnosing her illness.
"They (the hospital) should have actually spotted that there was something wrong a long time ago," she said.
"I don't hate them, I'm not angry with them. Sorry - I don't hate them, I don't want to start suing them or stuff like that, because personally I don't think it's morally right to sue an NHS hospital.
"All that's going to do is take more money out of it and then more people are going to suffer.
"I just think, it's not going to get my womb back, it's not going to get my health back. So what's the point?"
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Reader views (5)
Wasn't it the case that Jade had various letters sent to her asking for her to be further examined, but she ignored these. Jade died due to her ignorance.
- Jade Ford, barnet, london
Ali Sichilongo very well said, Jade was one big sell out, she sold her sole before her life was taken
- Anas, Preston, Kingdon of the free
Sorry to be controversial people...but...ENOUGH ALREADY!!! Jade Goody is now dead...she's gone...can we all try and move on please????...The tv channells seem morbidly and, some might say, sadistically intent on keeping the reality soap opera that was her life going...but for what end and for whom's benefit??...It certainly isn't for the public's benefit that not a day's gone by without her being featured or mentioned at least once. I admire the fact that because of her valiant fight against cervical cancer the number of women that are now taking this disease seriously and getting themselves screened has increased dramatically...but...let's try and keep a perspective on the situation and also have some respect for Jade herself...let her rest in peace...and in the process give me some peace as well!!!
- Ali Sichilongo, London
We really are crawling around the bottom of the barrel to extract more from this sad story.
- Selwyn Channon, epsom
I recall it was Jade herself who publicly addmitted she failed to attend appointments or respond to letters from Gp/hospital,stating she had cancerous cells on her cervix.
- Triffidqueen, Desk in London
