”Never Had a Brain Tumour”: UK Woman Pursues Legal Action After 11 Years of Unnecessary Chemo

• Becky Jones was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour at 21 and spent over a decade on chemotherapy drugs
• In 2025, independent medical experts revealed she never had cancer but a rare brain inflammation treatable with steroids
• Jones is now one of more than 40 patients taking legal action against a UK NHS trust over the misdiagnosis

Becky Jones was 21 years old when a doctor told her she had months to live. The Coventry woman had recently started a relationship with her partner Pete and was dreaming of a career in policing. That future collapsed almost immediately after a cancer consultant diagnosed her with a grade four glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer.

What followed was 11 years of chemotherapy that shaped nearly her entire adult life.

11 years of treatment for the wrong diagnosis

According to reports from the BBC, Jones says consultant Prof Ian Brown at University Hospital Coventry prescribed her the chemotherapy drug temozolomide, telling her she would need it for the rest of her life. Medical guidelines recommend only six cycles over six months. When she raised concerns about scans that showed no visible tumour, she was told the cancer would not be detectable to the naked eye.

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The side effects were relentless. Constant nausea, stomach pains, mouth ulcers and fatigue became her normal. She avoided family gatherings and social events out of fear of infection. Her driving licence was restricted. She was also told she would never be able to fall pregnant, though she later had two children, which Prof Brown called miracles. Jones said:

"I was told time and time again without the chemotherapy I would die."

In 2024, a doctor phoned to say her treatment was stopping, with no explanation other than that Prof Brown had retired. Jones was left without support or answers.

The truth is revealed in 2025

It was only in May 2025, following an independent review by neurosurgeons and radiologists working on behalf of her lawyers, that the full picture emerged. Jones had never had a brain tumour. She had been living with tumefactive demyelination, a form of brain inflammation that neurologists typically treat with steroids. She said:

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"I never had a brain tumour. I was misdiagnosed and I've gone through all this treatment for the main part of my adult life, for no reason."

A preliminary review by the Royal College of Physicians found that patients at the hospital were routinely given prolonged courses of the drug with little or no evidence of benefit. Of 20 cases reviewed, 15 were found to be unsatisfactory overall. The review, which referred to Prof Brown only as "Dr Y," found that his approach amounted to a "betrayal of patient trust."

Jones is now one of more than 40 patients pursuing legal action against University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. One fellow patient believed the drug had left her infertile. Another developed leukaemia after 100 unnecessary cycles.

View the YOU magazine post here.

Readers responded with disbelief online:

@ownhouseheidi7 reacted:

"😮😮😮"

@lestieoutofafrica asked:

"How exactly did they find out 🤷‍♂️🤔🤷‍♂️"

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Source: Briefly News