Settlement obtained for Essex woman whose gallstones went undiagnosed

Julie Crossley, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a five-figure settlement for Mrs M who was diagnosed as suffering from gallstones and cholecystitis almost a year after she initially reported abdominal pain to those treating her.

Mrs M was undergoing a course of IVF treatment at the time she felt the abdominal pain and was given a CT scan which was reported to be clear.  An ultrasound scan was not done and no further investigations were carried out.

Because a correct diagnosis was not made at the outset, Mrs M suffered a gallbladder perforation, jaundice, difficult surgery and post-operative complications.  An accurate diagnosis a year earlier would have resulted in an entire approach to treatment, in spite of the fact that Mrs M had, happily, become pregnant as a result of the IVF treatment.

Julie Crossley comments: “Fortunately Mrs M and her baby are now both healthy.  However, if the clinicians had referred her for an ultrasound scan to check for gallstones at the outset, she would have had a much better experience and her treatment would have been by ‘keyhole surgery’ with no expected complications rather than the more complex procedure that was eventually required.”