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ambulance chasers

C

captaindave

Active Member
Just looking for opinions...

If you had been misdiagnosed as T2 for over 3 years, would you consider getting in touch with a Lawyer specialising in Medical Negligence ?

Theres more ( negligence ) than the general statement above.....
 
LADA, which must be what you are referring to, can take up to five years until the patient deteriorates onto insulin. The symptoms of LADA can be the same as type 2 from the outset and are not life-threatening as the patients are still producing insulin, often in normal levels. The diagnosis often isn't made until the patient needs insulin. Even then, the antibodies can come back as negative. This scenario isn't medical negligence.

You will have to give your story.
 
It’s fairly common to get misdiagnosed and as there isn’t a clear cut way of diagnosing patients then it’s easily done so taking the route of medical negligence isn’t an easy or straight forward one.

I can appreciate you may be experiencing a wealth of emotions related to this, it’s a good idea to simply focus on your health and get yourself right, the priority is taking care of yourself, personally I don’t think fighting a battle when your body needs care and nourishment isn’t a good move, take care and best wishes J.
 
captaindave said:
Just looking for opinions...

If you had been misdiagnosed as T2 for over 3 years, would you consider getting in touch with a Lawyer specialising in Medical Negligence ?

Theres more ( negligence ) than the general statement above.....
Click to expand...

Only if you have a cast-iron case, deep pockets, a bunch of patience and huge mental fortitude.

My friend's sister is a lawyer, specialising in medical negligence, and I can assure you seeing something through is a tortuous process, getting copies of medical records, test results, specialist independent views and so on, and only then, having invested a lot of time and money, do you really know if you really have a viable case.

If your case is you were diagnosed as T2, but subsequently rediagnosed with T, unfortunately it can happen, and it can appear to be an appropriate initial diagnoses, only for deterioration to require a review of that diagnosis.

In your shoes, I'd try to get my head around my current diagnosis, and focus on learning to manage it as well as I could, in order to live my best possible life, for myself and my family..
 
Reactions: ert
One of my DNs ( who has now sadly moved job ) was forever saying to me she thought i was a T1 ( normal weight etc ), she pushed this up to her superiors, but was knocked back ( she told me this personally, and said it had taught her a lesson to stand her ground in future )
Anyway, partly at her insistence i had a test to determine if i was T1/T2 during 2018 ( cant remember exact date ) - after this I was advised i was T2.
fast forward to December 2019, by this time i was on max dose of Metformin & Glicazide, but was really struggling with BG levels, constantly high readings.
Had appointment at my local medical centre ( again during Dec 19 ) as a specialist diabetes nurse from hospital in nearest big city was there and they wanted me to see her...
Myself & my wife were waiting about 30 mins after appointment time before being called in ( obviously specialist going thru all my history )
Then the bombshell - I WAS T1 !!! - it stated clearly on the 2018 test results that i was T1, but the staff at medical centre had either misread it or not read it completely, and told me i was T2 and continued treatment as such.
So in Dec 19 i was finally put on Insulin, though they still will not give me a Freestyle Libre.

Hope that explains it clearly enough.
 

Gosh, that does seem like negligence then especially f you have suffered ill health as a result. Did nobody, not your Dr or anyone else look at those medical notes in the 3 years that followed? What is on your Drs medical record?
 
From the legal, viewpoint, what were the clear test results in 2018? It's just you managed without insulin until Dec 19, with higher blood glucose, but not DKA.
 
Hi. I've been down a similar route but suing would be a waste of time and money. The NICE or NHS standards for diabetes typing are too loose and Diabetes UK (not this site) is also behind the times which is why I resigned. Until the C-Peptide test becomes a standard test at diagnosis time little will change and GPs will continue to guess and dump people in the T2 group with no tests. Because NICE doesn't say that routine C-Peptide tests should be carried out, GPs can get away with it. Even then because LADA can come on slowly there is a period of time when you can be in the middle of the C-Peptide range. I was on max 320gm Gliclazide and struggling and my GP refused to agree I was T1/LADA when I challenged the T2 diagnosis; she also refused me insulin. Like you, I did consider challenging the GP about having me on full dose Gliclazide for a year or two and possibly damaging my beta cells but I can't prove that. So, just accept the fact that the medical profession is slow to change, rule-bound and procedural. It's a good job my engineering profession isn't like that. For info my last private C-Peptide showed me at the top of the T1 range and I'm waiting for the Clinic to do an NHS C-Peptide so it an be confirmed T1; my lovely DN has referred me for that as she knows more than the diabetes GP and recommends a low-carb diet!
 
Thank you all for the feedback, its very insightful.

Regarding the C-Peptide test, apparently there are 3 components to it, i was negative for the first 2, and positive for the final one, i think that was one of the excuses offered for the mis-interpretation of the test.

I have been worried that this has been kept " In House " by the Diabetic team, so i called to speak to my Doctor this week, unfortunately she wasnt available, spoke to another "Dr" but after unloading my story, she advised she was a trainee and best to speak to MY Dr - I have an appointment next week.

I guess its possible that my Dr was unaware about this, i dont suppose she would routinely look thru patients notes, even if she had the time to that...

I really dont want to go down the legal route, ( sounds like it would be a waste of time anyway ) its the frustrations of trying to get proper treatment that are making me feel like this....plus its not the first time my family has been affected by the NHS....my Dad went into hospital with a minor condition, was dumped in a ward full of MRSA-infected folks, and never came out of that place again....
 
How awful about your Dad. C-peptide has a value rather than a positive or negative result. You need to ask what that value was.
A c-peptide alone needs to be interpreted in context with your fasting glucose as if you were intermittent fasting, your c-peptide can be low.
 
captaindave said:
though they still will not give me a Freestyle Libre.
Click to expand...
Just being Type 1 etc doesn't entitle you to it automatically, there is criteria you need to meet etc, you seem to think you shouldv'e been handed one ASAP yet there are people who have been diagnosed 30+ years that still can't get it on prescription
 
Sorry to hear about your dad, similar story with my Nan she went in with a broken hip but contracted pneumonia whilst she was in which got treated far too late despite us telling staff and didn’t come home,

Diagnosis does mean you are dealing with many emotions and it is like the grieving process so anger, denial, resentment, sadness are typical stages experienced, my best advice is to get yourself right physically and mentally before making any decisions, your health is the priority right now.

Yes Kaylz is right you have to meet certain criteria to get access to the libre, my trust doesn’t prescribe it to me so I self fund the Dexcom at £159 a month, it’s been a brilliant system for me so worth the money, as it allows me to exercise more and reduce my HbA1c it’s worth the money.
 
kaylz91 said:
Just being Type 1 etc doesn't entitle you to it automatically, there is criteria you need to meet etc, you seem to think you shouldv'e been handed one ASAP yet there are people who have been diagnosed 30+ years that still can't get it on prescription
Click to expand...

What is the criteria ?
 

Very sorry to hear about your Nan.
 
Thanks all for further feedback, appreciated.

I will put this discussion on the back burner for now, and see what my Dr says next week..

As it stands now i have zero confidence in local team, my inclination is to withdraw contact with them and just get on with things solo, for better or worse...
 
captaindave said:
What is the criteria ?
Click to expand...
Depends on what your local CCG have set out, some seem to give them out freely, others have list a mile long of criteria - I got mine on doing more than 8 blood tests a day (this seems to be a fairly universal criteria) when I needed to (I was self-funding libres at the time so I didnt need to test 8 times a day normally unless it had all gone a bit wonky), I also proved that my HbA1c improved drastically when using said libre.
 
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CaptainDave - My diabetes has, to date, been pretty straightforward, but I have had a big struggle with another condition where I am extremely atypical in terms of "your average Jo". I have had a lot of frustration, spent money seeing specialist medics, spent money on private testing and so on, as my condition developed, until I eventually achieved a diagnosis.

It was frustrating. At times it was infuriating, and at times I considered self-medicating, using bona fide medications bought in countries where my requirements could be met without prescriptions, however, in the end I considered that wasn't the mos sensible course of action, as there was a danger I could be caught out, if I needed medical treatment for something else and my medical records and prescribed medications didn't match up with my reality. That could have led to quite a complex problem.

Bottom line is, I concluded that sooner or later, I will need a medic more than they will need me, and I need to have continued to manage a cordial and functioning relationship.

If you have lost confidence in your GP, then you could consider transferring to another, but in that there is always a danger of going from frying pan to fire. Similarly, if you have concerns about your clinic team, you could look to change, but the reality is, they are all working to the same frameworks, and to the same budgetary pinches.

My strong advice would be not to burn bridges.
 
Reactions: ert
Do you have a new team, now you've been diagnosed with type 1? My GP doesn't deal with my diabetes at all, as it's all under the care of a specialist team at the hospital.
 
captaindave said:
What is the criteria ?
Click to expand...
It varies from area to area so you'd need to check your local diabetes department internet pages to see what it is where you are, this forum seems to be mostly English people and I'm Scotland so even that makes a difference
 
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