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Thursday, 24 May 2012

Medical negligence - misdiagnosis

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By Kimberley Homer


Despite years of comprehensive training, doctors can still make mistakes when treating patients, and people can be left suffering with the impact of a misdiagnosis.

Earlier this year, a man from the Midlands was left disabled after staff at his local hospital in Dudley failed to diagnose that he had fractured his back. After his pain was misdiagnosed as a urinary tract infection he was not immobilised as he should have been, and the resulting spinal cord injury was so severe he is now forced to use a wheelchair.

This year, a man in his 60s from the Midlands was left severely disabled he visited hospital with a fractured back but was misdiagnosed by staff. After his pain was misdiagnosed as a urinary tract infection he was not immobilised and ended up suffering from a severe spinal cord injury that has left him in a wheelchair.

Severe cases such as this one highlight that there does not need to be any malicious intent for someone to end up seriously hurt, and that even when staff are acting with the needs of a patient in mind, things can still go wrong.

If you are worried about being misdiagnosed, or you think a condition you are currently suffering from could have been diagnosed as something else, what steps can you take?

Prescribing the wrong drugs can lead to severe illness, and if you are suffering after being given unsuitable medicine which was prescribed to you following a misdiagnosis, you could also have the right to make claim.

Sometimes cases progress even further and misdiagnosis can lead to needless and potentially harmful surgery.

If you believe that you have been misdiagnosed or you are concerned that you might be in the future, there are several steps you can take to try and lower your risk of being left injured.

If you have been to the doctors a number of times, and have had a number of prescriptions, but your symptoms still show no signs of disappearing there is a chance your condition has been misdiagnosed, or that a medical professional has prescribed incorrect drugs.

You could visit another doctor to ask for their opinion, and may also want to keep a detailed written record of your condition and its symptoms, to show that it has not improved over a long period of time.




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