Whenever you are seen by a medical practitioner, you should always make sure that the practitioner is aware of any drugs that you may be taking which could effect the treatment you are given. If this is not done, it could have devastating effects.
In one case reported in May 2010 by the Medical Protection Society, a 30-year old seemingly fit and healthy looking male was actually being treated with an immunosuppressive for his rheumatoid arthritis. Unrelated to this, he attended the A&E department of his local hospital with symptoms of an itchy rash and a general lack of energy.
The junior doctor who saw the patient recognised the rash as chicken pox and noted that he had not suffered with this common disease in his childhood. The doctor informed the patient of his diagnosis and advised him to stay at home and take paracetamol and use calamine lotion to reduce the itch. At no point did he check what prescription medications the patient may be taking.
The next day, the patient still felt very unwell and so called his local out-of-hours service and spoke to a GP. The patient informed the GP of his symptoms, which had not significantly changed from the day before. The GP, being reassured that the patient had been to hospital, advised the patient to continue with the treatment as suggested by the hospital doctor. Again, no drug history was taken.
The following day, the patient again sought medical advice being concerned about the severity of symptoms. He saw his usual GP, who would have had his full medical records available to review, and was advised that he should continue with the treatment recommended by the hospital. Like the out-of-hours doctor, he was falsely reassured by the attendance at the hospital.
The very next day after seeing his GP, the patient collapsed and was taken to hospital.
In a normal healthy adult, chicken pox is not particularly dangerous and the body’s immune system can fight off the disease. But if the patient is taking immunosuppressive drugs, they have no effective immune system to fight the viral infection.
Without an immune system, the disease is left to attack the bodies vital organs.
In this case, very sadly the patient ended up dying as a result of multi-organ failure. And yet, if the doctors involved had taken the drug history, as is required in all circumstances, this tragedy could have easily been avoided. Had the hospital doctor realised that the patient was taking immunosuppressive drugs, they would have treated the infection much more seriously and started the patient on a course of antiviral drugs. It is likely that the patient would have survived.
It is easy to just blame the hospital doctor for failing to take the drug history, but it was also the fault of the GPs for feeling reassured by the patients visit to hospital. In this case, it would seem that all three doctors involved would be found to be negligent.
If you have been involved in a case where a medical practitioner has failed to take a full history and mistreated or misdiagnosed you as a result, then it is worth asking a solicitor to investigate whether a claim for medical negligence can be made.
Please feel free to contact The Injury Lawyers for further advice.