October 14th, 2008
A woman who had her healthy gall bladder removed after a hospital blunder could receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation should she decide to sue, it has been reported.
The unnamed patient went into St Mary’s Hospital in London – where health minister Lord Ara Darzi works – to have a gynaecological procedure, but was instead taken into an operating theatre where a surgeon carried out the wrong procedure.
Hospital staff have now apologised for the "regrettable error", but claim that the organ would probably have had to be removed at a later date anyway, since it was damaged.
Although the woman has not yet taken any legal action over the incident, should she launch a claim for compensation, it could be worth several hundred thousand pounds, experts said.
Victims of wrong diagnosis and other types of malpractice have a legal right to recover their damages from the hospital if it can be found to be responsible, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and earning capacity, and more.
Tags: Ara Darzi, Blunder, Damages, Gall Bladder, Health Minister, Hospital Staff, Hundred Thousand, Hundreds Of Thousands, London, Malpractice, Medical Expenses, S Hospital, Thousand Pounds, Wages, Woman, Wrong Diagnosis
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August 13th, 2008
A man who was wrongly diagnosed with cancer is to sue the NHS after he had a healthy lung removed unnecessarily.
Laurence Ball, 58, was admitted to hospital in 2005 after suffering from a chest infection.
However, doctors told him that he had lung cancer and that he would have to have an operation in order to remove the tumour.
He did so three months later, however, when he woke up, he was told that there never was a tumour.
Mr Ball, a former firefighter, said: "I was given a misdiagnosis, I’ve lost my lung and I lost my job. For those reasons I feel that at the very least an explanation should be given to me by the health board that should sit down and discuss financial compensation for my loss of earnings."
An NHS spokesperson said the organisation cannot comment for legal reasons.
Wrong diagnosis occurs when a healthcare professional fails to give an accurate diagnosis, specifically by diagnosing a patient with the wrong disease, an absent disease, or as healthy when there actually is a disease.
Victims of wrong diagnosis and other types of malpractice may have a legal right to recover their damages, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and earning capacity.
Tags: Accurate Diagnosis, Chest Infection, Damages, Doctors, Financial Compensation, Firefighter, Health Board, Healthcare Professional, Healthy Lung, Laurence Ball, Loss Of Earnings, Lung Cancer, Malpractice, Medical Expenses, Misdiagnosis, Spokesperson, Three Months, Tumour, Wages, Wrong Diagnosis
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