‘Mark’, 22

‘Mark’ was left wheelchair-dependant in his early twenties and in need of care from his mother and father with many aspects of daily living after a condition affecting the growth of the legs and hips, which commonly arises during teenage years, was misdiagnosed. Eventually, once the correct diagnosis was made, he required a hip replacement and numerous other operations and missed a lot of his education. Had he been examined properly by doctors, diagnosed with a slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE) and treated appropriately all this would have been avoided. After Mark’s case was taken on by Sally Leonards, a partner in JMW’s medical negligence team he was awarded £2.25 million in compensation.

Start of ordeal

A week after Mark fell over while playing football he started to suffer knee pain. His mother provided paracetamol but this had no effect. Around the same time, Mark’s school nurse expressed concern about the condition of his leg.

A few weeks later Mark’s parents took him to the A&E department of their local hospital. Mark was examined by a doctor who decided he only had a soft tissue injury and discharged him home. However, the doctor failed to examine Mark thoroughly and recognise that he had restricted and painful movement in his hip and therefore required an X-ray to check for a SUFE injury.

Following his discharge from hospital, Mark continued to suffer pain and discomfort well into the next year. When Mark returned from holiday the summer following his hospital attendance with severe problems walking his mother took him to the GP. The GP referred him for an X-ray which revealed his hip had slipped out of place. The hip was found to be unstable and the bone tissue was at risk of dying due to its blood supply being restricted by the untreated injury.

Surgery

Mark’s GP referred him to A&E with a letter outlining what had happened and his need for urgent attention. Hospital doctors agreed he required urgent hip replacement surgery which took place two days after the X-ray was taken. The surgery did improve the condition of the hip but Mark continued to suffer post-operative complications.

Mark required several more operations as the bone tissue did indeed begin to die. Mark remains significantly disabled and in need of specialist housing, equipment and care. He will also require further hip replacement operations in the future. Had he been examined appropriately when he very first attended hospital he would have been diagnosed promptly and would have been treated far more successfully and conservatively with the surgical insertion of a single screw. A good outcome would have been achieved and Mark would have avoided having a total hip replacement, further surgery and the severe disabilities he now has at such a young age.

Successful medical negligence claim brought

Mark and his parents felt something had gone badly wrong with his care for him to end up in such an appalling state following a treatable injury. They were put in touch with Sally Leonards, a partner in the JMW medical negligence team and although nothing could fully compensate them for the life-changing incident Sally was successful in obtaining £2.25 million to enable Mark to cope with the financial consequences.