What to do about Wrongly Diagnosed with Bipolar

I was wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder by my GP, and have recently been diagnosed by a specialist as having unipolar depression. Can I claim compensation for being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar?

Being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder is certainly a valid reason for making a claim for medical negligence compensation in a UK NHS hospital. Just as a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder can result in a compensation award, being told that you have a particular mental health disorder when you do not similarly can result in an award of compensation.

In your case, being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder has meant that your actual health problem has been allowed to continue untreated and, if you have been receiving treatment for bipolar disorder, the medication you were on could have adversely affected your health. Treatment for the two disorders is not the same.

In order to be eligible to make a claim for compensation for being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder, you must have sustained an injury or been caused harm as a result of being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar. Although it will no doubt be distressing to know that you could have received the correct treatment for your condition much earlier, under UK medical negligence claims law your health must have suffered as a result of the misdiagnosis and this must be proven ‘on the balance of probabilities’ to be the case by a qualified bipolar specialist. If you use a medical negligence compensation solicitor to pursue your case, consultations with relevant medical experts will be arranged to help substantiate your compensation claim for being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Since medical negligence law is particularly complicated, it is always wise to seek professional legal advice as soon as possible after you suspect that being wrongly diagnosed with bipolar was due to medical negligence of your doctor. You also only have a fixed time frame for preparing a case and initiating legal action, and a medical negligence solicitor will be able to advise you on how long you have left to make a claim. You must also make a formal complaint to the NHS if you believe that your doctor has been negligent by wrongly diagnosing bipolar disorder, and this needs to be completed as soon as possible after medical negligence is suspected.