Mistaken diagnosis

[Resurgam]

I just told my sister about my diagnosis, and she told me that one of her husband's best friends has learned that he's been injecting insulin since the 70's, lost his job as a long distance lorry driver and had numerous hypo incidents due to being misdiagnosed all that time ago.
The consultant who dealt with him retired recently and the new doctor contacted the man to tell him to stop taking insulin at once and to come for a consultation.
He is now going through various tests to see if any damage has been done.
I think she said that the consultant worked in a hospital in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

 

[Jaylee]

I just told my sister about my diagnosis, and she told me that one of her husband's best friends has learned that he's been injecting insulin since the 70's, lost his job as a long distance lorry driver and had numerous hypo incidents due to being misdiagnosed all that time ago.
The consultant who dealt with him retired recently and the new doctor contacted the man to tell him to stop taking insulin at once and to come for a consultation.
He is now going through various tests to see if any damage has been done.
I think she said that the consultant worked in a hospital in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

Begs the question. How old was this person when he was initially diagnosed?
Another question. Does your sister & brother in law understand Insulin controlled diabetes...??

My other therory on your post is there are insulin dependants who don't declare that they are when initially passing the driving test. & so on.. An uncontrolled diabetic will get sussed out sooner or later..

Sorry, but the initial post don't quite add up???

I'm thinking more that this diabetic HGV driver initially "omitted" important information on his licence application...

 

[Resurgam]

I think it must have been the consultant who doesn't understand diabetes - the man would have been in his thirties when the diagnosis was made, and is now in his 60s.
He's been having hypos all the time.
He could not keep his licence as a heavy goods vehicle driver.
He's been told that he can get compensation for the error, but he's more concerned about the damage his use of insulin has had when he never needed it in the first place.
Just in case it is not clear - the man was never a diabetic.
The new consultant was reviewing blood test results and realised that something was wrong in a number of cases. The man has stopped all use of insulin after getting a phone call from the new consultant.

 

[Indy51]

That's a terrifying story, @Resurgam. Wonder how many other cases are involved and if prosecution of the retired doctor ensues.

 

[Jaylee]

I think it must have been the consultant who doesn't understand diabetes - the man would have been in his thirties when the diagnosis was made, and is now in his 60s.
He's been having hypos all the time.
He could not keep his licence as a heavy goods vehicle driver.
He's been told that he can get compensation for the error, but he's more concerned about the damage his use of insulin has had when he never needed it in the first place.
Just in case it is not clear - the man was never a diabetic.
The new consultant was reviewing blood test results and realised that something was wrong in a number of cases. The man has stopped all use of insulin after getting a phone call from the new consultant.

Please don't think I'm knocking your initial post. Your past posts? I think your an absolute "sweetheart". However. I was diagnosed T1 in the 70s. & know the regime... Lol, the guy may not have survived day one as a "norm" jacked up on insulin. (Possibly bovine? In the 70s.) so forgive me if I sense a flavour of "urban myth."

 

[Resurgam]

From what my sister told me, their friend is not the only one affected by this.
This is quite recent, the man is still in shock about it all.
It isn't just someone they heard about, it is a close friend my brother in law has known for most of his life and who was at their house this Christmas.

 

[Jaylee]

From what my sister told me, their friend is not the only one affected by this.
This is quite recent, the man is still in shock about it all.
It isn't just someone they heard about, it is a close friend my brother in law has known for most of his life and who was at their house this Christmas.

If the guy has passed out from hypoglycemia? There is a possibility that he could push a lawsuit regarding possible brain damage? But I'm just guessing regarding this case...?? But the whole cognitive thing along with personality change would need extensive investigation. I would assume?

 

[Indy51]

If more than one person was affected, it would be likely there'd be comas and/or death involved in at least some of the cases? I'll defer to Type 1s on that score.

 

[Resurgam]

He was told that he had a good case for getting compensation - but his main concern is finding out what taking insulin all these years has done to him. He has had numerous hypos as you can imagine.

 

[Jaylee]

He has had numerous hypos as you can imagine.

Just for the record. So have I since the mid 70s & most insulin dependants like myself.. I'm still here.!
Believe me when I tell you the dosage they calculated in the 1970's would have killed a norm along with the carbs calculated as "exchanges" back then... Please google "Harold shipman"?

I'm astonished... Gonna tag @tim2000s in on this one..

 

[Tophat1900]

He was told that he had a good case for getting compensation - but his main concern is finding out what taking insulin all these years has done to him. He has had numerous hypos as you can imagine.

That is horrendous.

I hope his health hasn't suffered too bad, but it would be interesting to know what effects it has had after 30 yrs. Especially given that he isn't diabetic. Whole different scenario here. Still a terrible thing to have happen, complete negligence on the doctors part.

 

[azure]

Could he have MODY? I can't understand how he could take insulin without needing it, and it not have been spotted. He'd have had severe hypos or worse. Was he taking both basal and bolus insulin? Didn't his GP say anything?

 

[slip]

I'm sort of siding with jaylee on this, I can't believe a T0 taking insulin for 30+ years could survive AND not be noticed by any other medical person.

Do you have any web links to the story? Has it hit the news yet?

 

[samantha13]

Surely he would have been having his hbA1c checked quite a bit during this 30 years and people other than the consultant would have had access to that? I can't understand how a non diabetic with a functioning pancreas could survive with two sources of insulin?

 

[alaska]

Who would be the lawsuit against? If its the NHS, a lawsuit only taxes the taxpayers and does no good for the NHS.

Misdiagnoses can happen. As someone has suggested, if its MODY then this is a genetic condition that has only become known about fairly recently and you can't blame the NHS for not diagnosing a condition that was not known about at the time.

Keep an open mind and think of solutions that are positive -is what I'd summarise with.

Ed

 

[Daibell]

Hi. It sounds like he was prescribed insulin and not given any real instructions and didn't have annual reviews. This is appalling assuming he didn't ignore any advice given. Insulin itself shouldn't have caused any damage but hypos can if severe and frequent.

 

[desidiabulum]

Historical note: the term MODY was first coined in 1974. Most HCPs in related fields whom I meet have never heard of it even now.

 

[Lamont D]

I was misdiagnosed for over a decade with T2!
It's a really good job that I wasn't given insulin as part of my meds!
My first endocrinologist didn't have a clue!
My endocrinologist now, would have insisted that his professor would not acknowledge or accept that I was hypoglycaemic.
Tests are mostly to rule other conditions out and one of the tests that can give good diagnosis is the c-peptide test.
There are horror stories out there!
And there is nothing more frustrating than being misdiagnosed by someone who doesn't understand metabolic conditions.

 

[JohnEGreen]

''The authors concluded: "As screening is inaccurate, many people will receive an incorrect diagnosis and be referred on for interventions while others will be falsely reassured and not offered the intervention.
"These findings suggest that 'screen and treat' policies alone are unlikely to have substantial impact on the worsening epidemic of Type 2 diabetes."

From here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38506713

 

[AndBreathe]

''The authors concluded: "As screening is inaccurate, many people will receive an incorrect diagnosis and be referred on for interventions while others will be falsely reassured and not offered the intervention.
"These findings suggest that 'screen and treat' policies alone are unlikely to have substantial impact on the worsening epidemic of Type 2 diabetes."

From here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38506713

This is the whole BMJ article, if you feel inclined to read it: http://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6538

The conclusion of the abstract was pretty damning enough:

".... Conclusions HbA1c is neither sensitive nor specific for detecting pre-diabetes; fasting glucose is specific but not sensitive. Interventions in people classified through screening as having pre-diabetes have some efficacy in preventing or delaying onset of type 2 diabetes in trial populations. As screening is inaccurate, many people will receives an incorrect diagnosis and be referred on for interventions while others will be falsely reassured and not offered the intervention. These findings suggest that “screen and treat” policies alone are unlikely to have substantial impact on the worsening epidemic of type 2 diabetes....."