Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust Admits Failure to Spot Burst Appendix in Pregnant Woman Which Led to the Loss of Her Unborn Child
During pregnancy, all women should receive the highest standard of medical care to protect the wellbeing of her and her unborn child.
However, a recent client of ours experienced various failures during her second trimester which resulted in the loss of her child, for which she was awarded £92,500.
In December 2015, the woman was 16 weeks pregnant when she was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting and placed on IV fluids. But medical staff assumed this was just a symptom of pregnancy and she was discharged. Her pain continued at home and she was readmitted two days later with severe sickness (hyperemesis) and dehydration.
An ultrasound showed fluid collecting on her left-side but an MRI scan couldn’t determine the cause. Four days later a laparoscopy examination found a ruptured appendix. Fluid was drained but her condition deteriorated. Three weeks after she first sought medical treatment, she lost her baby. A CT scan also showed more fluid which had now become infected. She was taken to theatre where she underwent a caesarean section and appendix removal surgery sequentially.
She remained in an induced coma on a ventilator for a week and was treated for sepsis twice, before finally being discharged in January 2016, a month after her surgery.
With our help, the woman successfully brought a claim against the Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust who acknowledged various failures. They admitted the burst appendix should have been considered sooner and this would have led to earlier diagnosis and treatment, avoided prolonged discomfort and sepsis, and prevented the loss of her unborn child.