28 November 2005

Misdiagnosed hospital victim wins damages

A woman who had a kidney removed as a result of a misdiagnosis at Stafford General Hospital, has been awarded £33,650.00 in damages through legal representation from medical negligence solicitors, Thompsons.

Mrs Appleton, from Rugeley, sought legal advice from the firm after it transpired that her kidney had been removed unnecessarily following a mistaken cancer diagnosis.

Mrs Appleton was told in April 2004 that she had cancer in her kidney and that an operation would be necessary to remove the kidney and her urethra. It took the hospital three weeks from the operation to discover that she did not in fact have cancer and that the lump found was just a kidney stone.

Thompsons Solicitors made a case against the hospital trust maintaining that a simple further investigation by the hospital would have revealed the true cause of Mrs Appleton's problem. The firm also highlighted that had this taken place, Mrs Appleton would not have had to go through the trauma of being told that she had cancer followed by an extensive operation.

As a result, Stafford General Hospital admitted full liability.

Mrs Appleton was not initially aware of the extent of possible recourse until she consulted Thompsons Solicitors. She explained: "We were advised by friends to get advice from a solicitor. Although we went through a period of great anxiety about the wrong diagnosis and treatment, we are pleased that Thompsons provided us with specialist medical negligence advice we needed. Without their expertise, we may well have lost out."

Kashmir Uppal, for Thompsons Solicitors, comments: "Mrs Appleton is one of many who have benefited from our medical negligence expertise. In recent years we have seen increasing numbers of cases of this type and we have been very successful in securing substantial damages."

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