Ms Marie Culliton:

Litigation can happen but if the test is inherently incapable of detecting the adenocarcinoma, if one has gone back to review the smear, and if one has reviewed the slide down the microscope and confirmed there is no abnormality present, then one cannot find anybody negligent with regard to litigation. Nobody has done their job incorrectly. No smear and no screening test is 100% detection. It is a screen, it is not a diagnostic. There are many women present. When we speak with women we explain to them what is going on. Women are clever. Do not promise a woman that a negative smear means there is absolutely no risk that she has it at all. Be absolutely clear in the communication and be upfront with women, they will listen and accept it. We cannot accept, however, when there is clear evidence of an abnormality in the sample taken that it is not detected. This is where the litigation problem arises.