A woman has received a compensation payout after her whole stomach was removed in an unnecessary cancer operation.
The 74-year-old had the operation in 2004 after she was erroneously diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a number of different tests. Following the total gastrectomy, she was told that she had been misdiagnosed and she decided to sue for compensation.
The woman received an undisclosed sum in compensation but the hospital has not accepted liability.
There have been other incidents where people have received compensation for misdiagnosis. Previously a woman received a £400,000 compensation payout after she was also misdiagnosed with cancer. Another patient received compensation of £900,000 after a hospital failed to diagnose a spine infection.
There are different types of misdiagnosis which people can claim compensation for. These are when a medical condition goes undiagnosed, despite a patient reporting ill health, and when a condition is wrongly diagnosed, such as a bone fracture being diagnosed as a sprain or, as above, someone erroneously being diagnosed with cancer when they don’t have it.
To make a compensation claim for misdiagnosis, a patient will normally need to show that the incorrect diagnosis has caused them further unnecessary pain or suffering.