VIC Misdiagnosed? Unnecessary Surgery

[cool27]

Apologies for the long read.

Over the last month or so I received an Ultrasound from the advice of my GP which apparently revealed two Inguinal Hernias.

Upon looking at the returned results my GP agreed this was a double Inguinal Hernia and sent me to a Surgeon.
The Surgeon looked at what was available to them and had a physical look for themselves to further clarify.

The Surgeon confidently agreed that I do have 2x Hernias but only 1x needed to be repaired at this time. They then signed me off to go onto the Public waiting list for the surgery.

About 2-3 weeks later I was called in for Laparoscopic Surgery which I underwent last week.

I woke to be advised I had no Hernia and was sent home which felt more like I was being rushed out by the nurse.

I’ve been unable to attend work for 4 days whilst recovering from the surgery, would have been longer if it wasn’t for the weekend.

I’ve been left extremely embarrassed, very sore and now unable to resume my normal activities for potentially another month for what seems like no reason at all.

I met with the surgeon today who signed me off for it to hopefully get some answers. He proceeded to tell me what I was already told, I didn’t have a Hernia after all and the pain I had is likely just fatty tissue dislodged...

I feel I should be compensated for this unnecessary Surgery. I was clearly misdiagnosed from what seems 3 medical professionals.
This has effected my personal and professional life and will continue to until I’m fully recovered.

If someone could please offer some information to see if I’m entitled to some form of compensation that would be great.

Thank you

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

This is not my space by any means (but I am a lawyer), so make of this what you will.

I don't think you have any grounds for compensation. Medicine is not an exact science (it's traditional not a science at all from my understanding). There are some things which cannot be confirmed through medical imaging - especially soft tissue areas. An ultrasound just can't give you the same information that an exploratory surgery can. That exploratory surgery was probably the laparoscopy.

The fact that you've had two medical opinions which originally thought you had hernias may give you some idea of the difficulty in making a definitive diagnosis from external examination. To prove medical negligence you'd have to overcome that fact and prove that what was done in the diagnosis was as a result of a failure to apply reasonable care and skill in the circumstances. That's a hard task.

Then there's the cost factor versus the potential damages. You've been "embarrassed, very sore and ... unable to resume ... normal activities for potentially another month". In the scheme of things you'll get nothing for embarrassment, probably next to nothing for 'pain and suffering', and nothing for inconvenience. Medical negligence usually revolves around loss of life, loss of limb(s), paralysis, long term/permanent disability and the like. While I don't mean to belittle your experience, it doesn't measure on that scale. You also haven't mentioned any out of pocket expenses/medical expenses, but they're likely to be comparatively minimal.

Perhaps another way to look at it is that while you've endured a laparoscopy, you've been saved from an unnecessary single/double hernia operation.