Another NHS fail - Policeman's wife wrongly diagnosed with swine flu dies of legionnaires disease

Article.

This time it was 'paramedics' who refused to take a woman who was really ill with what turned out to be legionnaires disease, to the hospital.....TWICE.

I agree, we will need mass graves this Autum, but not for swine flu victims, for all those who've had 'symptoms' that turn out to be something far worse than 'flu, and left to die in agony at home.

The problem is being caused by the routes we have to go down in order to get medical care from trained doctors. I called my practice the other day, and you have to listen to a pre recorded message (full of scary crap) about swine flu to even get to speak to a real human. The 'middle man' for example the paramedics, call centers and pre recorded message authors, have little to no medical training and absolutly no authority to diagnose.

The thing is also there is NOBODY for us here in the UK to go to, we don't pay for our treatment, therefor unless we have a lot of money, we have no choice over how we receive it. I think this is a violation of the human rights act, and for once, one worth pursuing.

Isn't refusing a very sick person medical treatment a violation of the right to life?

Would be interesting to hear other people's oppinions on this.

[edit on 20-8-2009 by The Chez]

What the hell is wrong with these medical persons? A sign that very soon people will be seeing swine flu everywhere. With every cough, every sneeze.

And the damn people that should know better haven't the sense to recall that - duh - there are lots of other diseases out there.

I also have no idea how the medical establishment works in the UK. Are persons forced to use an ambulance service in order to get urgent care?

Deplorable, and I bet we'll be seeing more of these happenings in the future.

Originally posted by orderedchaos
What the hell is wrong with these medical persons? A sign that very soon people will be seeing swine flu everywhere. With every cough, every sneeze.

And the damn people that should know better haven't the sense to recall that - duh - there are lots of other diseases out there.

I also have no idea how the medical establishment works in the UK. Are persons forced to use an ambulance service in order to get urgent care?

Deplorable, and I bet we'll be seeing more of these happenings in the future.

We have 3 main ways to access urgent healthcare.

1: The GP's (family doctors) who are now refusing to see anyone, even small children and babies with any form of flu like symptoms. We are also not allowed to go to the practice to see a doctor if we have ANY of the 'flu symtoms', which can be the symptoms of anything.

2: Dial 999 for an ambulance. If you have flu symptoms the paramedics will refuse to take you in to hospital.

3: Go to A&E (ER in the US). Who will also most likely not see you if you have these 'symptoms'.

The 4th option of staying at home and having a 'flu friend' collect tamiflu for you is the only doable option if your sick here at the moment. The fact you probably don't have flu is beside the point, you'll still be able to get tamiflu just from answering an untrained person's checklist. This is what happened in all the recent deaths.

There has to be more to this, population control springs to mind with a few others. I know our government wouldn't mind a few nasty viruses among the unemployed & elderly right now. Anyone who's deemed an expense to the state will probably be first in line to die in this farce.

Denying the sick medical treatment really must infringe the right to life, surely? Mind you, in this country at the moment you'd probably be told that by trying to get medical care with 'flu symptoms' your infringing on everyone's right to life!

Also couldn't denying the sick care be classed as a form of torture?



[edit on 20-8-2009 by The Chez]

Last week my 3 1/2 year old daughter was admitted to hospital for what was finally diagnosed as herpes (fever blisters).

The day before we admitted her, we had her at the doctor, who described the sores in her mouth as a side effect of the flu. He prescribed an anitbiotic syrup, and panado syrup and teejel, something used for infants who are teething.

The blisters had worked all through her mouth and into her throat by the time he saw her, and i have learned that when herpes gets as far as the throat, it IS life threatening. When herpes reaches the heart, you die.

He misdiagnosed herpes. Called it the flu.

Originally posted by harryhaller
Last week my 3 1/2 year old daughter was admitted to hospital for what was finally diagnosed as herpes (fever blisters).

The day before we admitted her, we had her at the doctor, who described the sores in her mouth as a side effect of the flu. He prescribed an anitbiotic syrup, and panado syrup and teejel, something used for infants who are teething.

The blisters had worked all through her mouth and into her throat by the time he saw her, and i have learned that when herpes gets as far as the throat, it IS life threatening. When herpes reaches the heart, you die.

He misdiagnosed herpes. Called it the flu.

OMG Thats awful I'm so sorry you & your little girl had to go through that!!

Thats plain wrong, I've never in all my life heard of that being a 'side effect of flu' thats a load of tosh. Herpes is caused by a virus yes, but really, thats taking the piss. I really struggle to understand who these people think they are playing god with people's lives. It's made a million times worse when it's a child as young as your little girl, I don't know how a doctor could look you in the eye & say that. Thats indescribably neglegent. Now you have the diagnosis, I would find a medical lawyer & go about suing this doctor, because his idiotic diagnosis could have cost your kid her life.

Legionnella is a difficult pnuemonia to diagnose. I know, I almost clocked out from it. My family was called in and was told I was a goner. They only knew I had pnuemonia at the time.

As it turns out, my sister had a friend who was a cosmetic surgeon (of all the medical professionals) and suggested to check for Legionnaires. They did a bronchoscopy and found the bacteria and treated me with the appropriate medication. 30 days later I woke up looking like a bag of bones and did not remember a thing. I heard I was quite unruly! Legionnella affects your mind and makes you delerious.

The survival rate is about 50%. Don't blame the doctors. I was lucky. Again, it is not a common disease and not easily diagnosable. Sorry to hear such a sad story.

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

Originally posted by brilab45
Legionnella is a difficult pnuemonia to diagnose. I know, I almost clocked out from it. My family was called in and was told I was a goner. They only knew I had pnuemonia at the time.

As it turns out, my sister had a friend who was a cosmetic surgeon (of all the medical professionals) and suggested to check for Legionnaires. They did a bronchoscopy and found the bacteria and treated me with the appropriate medication. 30 days later I woke up looking like a bag of bones and did not remember a thing. I heard I was quite unruly! Legionnella affects your mind and makes you delerious.

The survival rate is about 50%. Don't blame the doctors. I was lucky. Again, it is not a common disease and not easily diagnosable. Sorry to hear such a sad story.

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

[edit on 20-8-2009 by brilab45]

Lots of conditions are hard to diagnose, but these people are not even getting diagnosed. They're getting told they have flu before any tests have been done and before they have even seen a doctor qualified to decide whats wrong. The paramedics & receptionists are deciding. If that poor lady had made it to a hospital in time, instead of the ambulance staff refusing to take her on TWO seperate occasions, her chances would have been considerably higher.

Meanwhile the source of the Legionnella remains unlocated, probably infecting more people, who will in turn also be told they have flu & left to die.



[edit on 20-8-2009 by The Chez]

Sorry Chez, I did not mean to overlook the unqualified "deciders" comment. That is definitely gross negligence and an absolute sham.

I never found out where I caught it either. Otherwise I'd be a rich man. I did check with the CDC and did not find any related cases at the time I acquired it.

Hopefully, they reviewed the case and tried to find a source and I hope the people involved get the crap sued out of them.

I might have missed it but was there a thread about the girl who dies of tonsillitis because she was diagnosed with swine flu?

A girl died from complications arising from tonsillitis after being misdiagnosed with swine flu over the phone by a GP, her father has claimed.

Charlotte Hartey, 16, of Oswestry, Shropshire, died in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on 31 July.

A post-mortem test found she died of natural causes though her father Karl said the coroner told the family she died from blood poisoning.

The NHS has said it is reviewing her case.

Charlotte's family said she was diagnosed over the phone by a local GP on 22 July and prescribed tamiflu. Source

They do a lot of "over-the-phone" diagnosing and prescribing?

Originally posted by The Chez
2: Dial 999 for an ambulance. If you have flu symptoms the paramedics will refuse to take you in to hospital.

3: Go to A&E (ER in the US). Who will also most likely not see you if you have these 'symptoms'.

These are two things the U.S. could do to help cut the cost of health care and reduce long waits at the ER. I'm not saying it's a perfect solution, but it has some validity.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
I might have missed it but was there a thread about the girl who dies of tonsillitis because she was diagnosed with swine flu?

A girl died from complications arising from tonsillitis after being misdiagnosed with swine flu over the phone by a GP, her father has claimed.

Charlotte Hartey, 16, of Oswestry, Shropshire, died in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on 31 July.

A post-mortem test found she died of natural causes though her father Karl said the coroner told the family she died from blood poisoning.

The NHS has said it is reviewing her case.

Charlotte's family said she was diagnosed over the phone by a local GP on 22 July and prescribed tamiflu. Source

They do a lot of "over-the-phone" diagnosing and prescribing?

No, this is the first time I have known our government allow untrained staff to prescribe drugs. Tamiflu is prescription only here, but is available just by filling in a few questions on the website or over the phone.

The UK is going AGAINST advice from the WHO, which states Tamiflu should NOT be given to people who are otherwise well. It's only supposed to be used in the case of serious complecations or people in the at risk groups. These call centers are giving it out like sweets, even schools are giving it out like sweets to kids who don't even have flu! Many schools have dished it out to everyone when 1-2 kids have come down with 'flu'.

Originally posted by brilab45
Sorry Chez, I did not mean to overlook the unqualified "deciders" comment. That is definitely gross negligence and an absolute sham.

I never found out where I caught it either. Otherwise I'd be a rich man. I did check with the CDC and did not find any related cases at the time I acquired it.

Hopefully, they reviewed the case and tried to find a source and I hope the people involved get the crap sued out of them.

Thats ok, it just scares me thats all. I have a few problems at the moment, that have been ongoing and do resemble flu, I think it's a hormonal problem without going into too many details. I dare not go to my doctor for fear of being cast out of the waiting room by people in biohazard suits

A lot of doctor's surgeries (offices in the US I think, I try to remember the US terms too so as not to confuse anyone lol), operate via a triage system where you have to tell the phone operator why you need to see the doctor. As soon as I told them about my problems, they would probably refuse to see me.

I think it's disgusting to be honest with you, whats the point in me going at other times, like I have, when I don't have the symptoms? They need to see me on a bad day to be able to work out whats wrong.

The last thing I want is to be given friggin Tamiflu.

Anyone going to A & E will be seen, there are also NH walk in centres in most large towns. I or my family have never had a gp refuse a home call.

If I was bothered enough to trawl the net I am sure I would find health care professionals who have made a mistake in every country on the planet.

I am fed up with this constant critisism of the NHS, which on the whole does an outstanding job.

I have a son who is a nurse, his advice is if there is any doubt about any health issues to take the patient to A & E they have to see you and cannot send you home or admit you until a diagnosis has been made.