I feel I should be entitled to compensation for a misdiagnosis of kidney stones. I visited my doctor on three occasions before I finally got the treatment I needed. Can I claim compensation?
It should be possible to claim compensation for a misdiagnosis of kidney stones, provided that you have come to harm as a result of the failure to diagnose kidney stones; such as suffering unnecessarily as a result of the delay in receiving treatment or contracting an infection. If the delay in diagnosis was significant, the kidney stones were allowed to grow in size and you now need surgery to remove them, this would certainly warrant a claim for compensation.
The question which must be answered before your right to make a personal injury* claim can be established is whether under the circumstances, misdiagnosed kidney stones constituted medical negligence*. Even a highly experienced doctor may fail to diagnose a medical condition initially, and the failure to diagnose a kidney stone does not necessarily constitute negligence.
For example, it would be unreasonable to expect a doctor to arrive at the correct diagnosis if the symptoms experienced by a patient were atypical of kidney stones. After a case history is taken and a patient is examined, the doctor would make a diagnosis based on the evidence available. Further tests may not necessarily be arranged if there were no immediate danger to your health and if the symptoms were not severe – such as mild discomfort as opposed to excruciating pain. The patient would be instructed to return if any further symptoms developed or if the treatment provided did not work.
On return to the doctor, diagnostic testing should have been conducted – such as an ultrasound or urine test to ensure the correct diagnosis could be made. The original misdiagnosis would not necessarily be classed as medical negligence* if a kidney stone diagnosis was confirmed on the second visit or if diagnostic tests were scheduled.
However, in your case, since it there was a failure to diagnose kidney stones on three separate occasions, this suggests that your doctor has displayed poor professional performance or has acted with incompetence, and you may have grounds to make a claim for a kidney stone misdiagnosis.
It is not possible to confirm whether you are entitled to claim compensation for a misdiagnosis of kidney stones without further information of the circumstances leading to the misdiagnosis, the length of time between visits to the doctor and knowledge of the symptoms you experienced. We therefore recommend that you speak with a personal injury* solicitor about your case and to explain the circumstances surrounding the misdiagnosed kidney stones to find out if it is possible to make a claim for misdiagnosed kidney stones and to be compensated for your suffering.
Even when medical negligence* can be established and proven, it is not always worth while making a claim for a kidney stone misdiagnosis. However if you suffered a serious injury or a significant level of pain as a result of the failure to diagnosed a kidney stone, it should be worth your while making a claim.