Can i claim compensation?!
Question: a few years back i went to my doctors complaining of pain in my stomach and as usual because im a woman im told its period pain and sent homw with parecetemol, 2 days later i end up in hospital with a burst fallopian tube which had to be removed , i had had an eptopic pregnacy witchout even knowing i was pregnant
Answers: a few years back i went to my doctors complaining of pain in my stomach and as usual because im a woman im told its period pain and sent homw with parecetemol, 2 days later i end up in hospital with a burst fallopian tube which had to be removed , i had had an eptopic pregnacy witchout even knowing i was pregnant
HOW AWFUL FOR YOU.
SOMEONE HAS GOT TO
ANSWER FOR THIS, I'M
SURE THAT YOU CAN CLAIM.
Its very wrong that your doctor didnt investigate further, but on the other hand its very difficult to diagnose a stomach complaint in a 5 minute consultation. Pain in stomach could be millions of things and possibly because you described it as lower abdomen then the first thing a doctor thinks of is period pain, wrongly I know, but in my experience of ectopic pregnancy, the sufferer is usually in quite a lot of pain and its usually on one side or the other. Im surprised it took two more days for you to end up in hospital, therefore you must have been at the very beginning stage of it when you visited your doctor, so it would be hard for him to diagnose something as serious as this when your pains were maybe milder then. As for compensation, hmmm Im not sure if you would win a case like this because the gap of two days should have made you return to your doctor to tell him the pain was worse, then he would have sent you to the hospital, maybe!!! Its so hard to say, but I am dreadfully sorry for you.
You'll need to consult with a lawyer. Also, there could be a statute of limitations of a year or so.
It's a difficult one but I wouldn't claim as I'm sure the doctor didn't deliberately give you the wrong diagnosis.
How awful for you...you have my sympathy. I don't know how successful a claim would be though, you would have to prove the doctor acted negligently.
There are many reasons for pelvic pain but there are signs that would point to an ectopic pregnancy although you say you were not aware you were pregnant. The signs that would raise alarm bells are are a brownish discharge, one sided increasingly severe pain, pain around the shoulder (a later sign and a sign that the tube has ruptured) in a woman who is around 6-9 week pregnant. Having said that, sometimes the only symptom may be pain.
Did your doctor ask if you could be pregnant ? Did he feel your abdomen or examine you internally ? If for example you said you could be pregnant and he ignored that then it is possible you could claim he was negligent. You really need to speak to a solicitor who specialises in medical claims...many offer a free initial consultation to assess what claim you may or may not have. As it was a few years ago you may have a problem as there is a limitation as to how long after the event you can make a claim.
Good luck
I hate the compensation culture that has developed, especially because it is more of a way to make money doing nothing than true compensation; true compensation merely puts you in the position you would have been in had the event not occured. So would you have been saved ending up in hospital had the doctor correctly diagnosed you? Probably not, so the only compensation could be for the extra pain over the two lost days. You would have to demonstrate that the doctor had sufficient time and information to give a correct diagnosis and he can plea any other possibilities for your symptoms. Also you would have to show why you could not have made the claim a lot earlier; you may be statute time limited anyway.
Personally, I think that to pursue this would be fruitless, time consuming and costly, and I cannot see that you would win compensation; you cold face huge court costs. Put it down to experience and carry on with your life