Doctor's failure to monitor drug trial patient proves fatal

A doctor's failure to treat a leukaemia patient's condition as urgent proved irreversible when the patient died 24 hours later.

Gordon was diagnosed with lymphosatic leukaemia. He underwent chemotherapy and his consultant persuaded him to take part in the trial of a new drug. The doctor explained to Gordon and his wife that the new drug would lower his immune system. He said that it was vital that his health was monitored as if he caught an infection things would be very serious indeed.

Approximately 6 months later, the night before Gordon was due to undergo his third dose of chemotherapy he became ill. His wife made several calls to the hospital but nothing was done. The following morning she became very distressed. She tried to call the consultant directly but was told that someone would call her back. No one ever did. By the evening Gordon's condition had deteriorated. He became delirious and his wife called the locum GP. Belatedly Gordon was taken to hospital. However, the situation was by this time irreversible and in the early hours of the morning he sadly passed away.

Gordon's wife came to Bond Pearce to help find out what had gone wrong. The experienced clinical negligence team investigated the claim and were able to settle the case within 6 months. The NHS Trust admitted liability. They acknowledge that an error had been made and put steps in place to ensure that it would not happen again.

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If you would like to seek expert legal advice relating to this case study or any other injury claim please complete the online enquiry form or call 0800 915 4650