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This article was published on September 26th, 2016
A woman who’s Chrone’s disease and blocked bowel was not diagnosed, has died of ischemia (heart complication).
The 54-year-old woman attended hospital on three occasions with severe abdominal pain and vomiting but an inquest heard that the decision was made not to carry out a laparotomy to determine the cause of the pain.
A CT scan was done but the cause of the pain was not accurately diagnosed and doctors failed to identify the blockage in the bowel which ultimately led to an infection which caused restricted blood flow to her heart.
According to an investigation by the Hospital Trust, the woman’s death was unavoidable had medical staff correctly identified her bowel condition. A simple laparotomy would have quickly identified the cause of the pain and vomiting.
The report stated: “Had she been taken into theatre up to August 18 it is likely she would have survived.”
As a result of the misdiagnosis, the woman developed a heart complication caused by ischemia but by then the doctors were unable to prevent her death.
Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis can be devastating to patients and their families. Our NHS staff do an amazing job and do their best to make people better but sometimes mistakes are made and symptoms are overlooked. Compensation is not about blame but about compensating people who have suffered unnecessary stress through pain and suffering, loss of earnings or on rare occasions death.
As with any clinical negligence compensation claim, it is vital to find a solicitor that has expertise in this complex area. Our team works with the country’s leading medical experts in this area of clinical negligence to ensure that we offer the very best legal advice.