How to deal with Misdiagnosis of Appendicitis

I would like to claim misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation for peritonitis caused by a delayed diagnosis of appendicitis. It took two trips to the emergency room before my condition was properly diagnosed.

It appears that a misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation claim may well be possible in your case, although this would need to be confirmed by a medical negligence solicitor after a thorough examination of your case.

An emergency room misdiagnosis is unfortunately common, despite the high level of care provided by doctors in the UK. Although a patient arriving at an emergency room displaying the classic symptoms of appendicitis may be correctly diagnosed, when symptoms are atypical, a misdiagnosis of appendicitis is more likely to occur. Since emergency rooms are frequently staffed by junior doctors, inexperience can play a part in any misdiagnosis. Emergency rooms are frequently implicated in misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation claims in the UK for this reason.

A claim for misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation will depend on a number of factors. Firstly, you must be able to demonstrate – with the help of a solicitor and medical experts - that a competent doctor would have been able to either recognise the symptoms of appendicitis and make the correct diagnosis or that, faced with your symptoms, medical tests would have been arranged to arrive at the correct diagnosis. If tests were arranged, and the results were misinterpreted - either due to inexperience or incompetence –misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation can also be claimed.

The success of a misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation claim will depend on whether the delay in diagnosis was responsible for a deterioration in the condition or further health problems being suffered. Appendicitis requires immediate surgical intervention to prevent rupture and, when a rupture occurs it can cause peritonitis – a highly serious health problem. Peritonitis can be easily prevented with an early appendicitis diagnosis.

The delay in the diagnosis of appendicitis appears to have caused you to suffer a more serious health problem as a result, and this could well be due to hospital medical negligence. If it can be proven that within the time limits  ‘on the balance of probability’ that this was the case, a claim for misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation should be possible. You should speak to a medical negligence solicitor as soon as possible to get a full assessment your claim, and to find out what you must do next in order to claim misdiagnosis of appendicitis compensation against the hospital.