Do Medical Negligence Solicitors Handle Failure to Diagnose?

If your family has suffered a tragedy such as a loved one dying of blood poisoning, should you consider appointing a medical negligence solicitor?

In his early twenties your son was a young man. When he stayed in bed late one morning, it wasn't usual. He was active and sporty. He had plenty of friends with a good social life and career prospects.

Something was wrong. He was in bed with a raging temperature, complaining of terrible pain.

You called your GP and asked to be put through to him on the phone.

After a minute the receptionist's reply came back informing you the doctor had said it was probably a fever and to get him to drink plenty of fluids and rest. You called again half an hour later as this was clearly not the solution. This seemed like a nightmare of medical negligence. His condition deteriorated and he was getting worse. He was sweating and weak.

You called the surgery again but were told to take him to casualty or wait for the home visiting doctor on his daily rounds. You felt as if you were being a nuisance.

You called an ambulance. Two days later, your son died of meningococcal septicaemia. You are sure medical negligence had occurred. You feel like your trust has been broken and you want to know why. Had the doctor responded earlier he could have been saved.

After the inquest, the thought persists that this must be a case to take to a medical negligence lawyer. Surely this area of law covers refusal to attend someone who is so ill and gets a dismissal of symptoms? The hospital were brilliant, they did all they could to save him but it was too late. Is medical negligence still applicable in this case, applied to the GP, rather than the hospital?

A medical negligence solicitor will help to support you to find out. He will look at your medical history and call in the services of an independent doctor to examine your case. A medical negligence claim is very rarely a short process and therefore you must be aware that whilst you are feeling your grief you will have to deal with long and complicated communications and likely court action. Making a claim against your doctor will not bring your loved ones back to you, but it might help stop mistakes like what happend to your family to anyone else.