RHEUMATOLOGY patients have spoken out about their “gruelling” personal struggles with incorrect diagnoses and wrongly-prescribed drugs after a review of the service revealed major failings in the way care was being given.
And law firm Viberts has revealed that a growing number of Islanders have been inquiring about potential legal action against the department, following a Royal College of Physicians review which found that care in the unit was “well below” acceptable standards.
The review, which examined rheumatology case records between January 2019 and December 2021, prompted the Health Department to carry out its own audits, which found that hundreds of patients had been misdiagnosed or given drugs they did not need.
One patient, Sean Pontin (54), said he was diagnosed with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis in 2009 and was put on various forms of medication, including biologic drugs.
Biologics are powerful substances derived from natural sources such as human, animal, fungal or microbial cells.
They work by suppressing the immune system and disrupting the inflammation process that leads to joint pain.
They can also make patients more susceptible to life-threatening infections.
Last year, however, Mr Pontin was told that he did not have the condition and should never have been taking the medication.
“That was a real kick in the teeth and took quite a long time to get my head around,” he said, adding that he felt “quite sick” when the details of the department’s failings emerged last month.
He said he was later told he had a form of chronic pain and fatigue, but stressed that nobody had formally diagnosed the condition – and that he feared the department could be “making assumptions again”.
“I’ve been left asking lots of questions around whether, if I’d been on the right pathway of support in 2009 – as opposed to the last year – would I be feeling different now?
“What is the impact on my body going forward, having taken a lot of powerful medication that it never needed?”
Mr Pontin said that, because of the misdiagnosis and wrongly prescribed drugs, he had also struggled in obtaining life insurance and needed to shield throughout the Covid pandemic due to his suppressed immune system.
“My family was worried about me, I couldn’t do anything that other people were doing – but in reality I needn’t have done that. I was only doing that because I was taking things I shouldn’t have taken.”
Another patient, who did not wish to be named, said she had a rare connective-tissue disorder – but had to endure additional months of “gruelling agony” after one doctor misdiagnosed the condition.
It was later confirmed by a different consultant, which helped her to access the treatment she needed.
“As someone who’s only young, my life should not have been put on hold by not getting the correct treatment by [a doctor] not carrying out the correct tests and should have been treated a long time ago,” she said.
When the RCP’s findings were published, a spokesperson for Viberts said the law firm was dealing with more than 110 inquiries and that it anticipated “the vast majority” would want to progress with a claim against the Rheumatology Department.
The spokesperson this week revealed Viberts had received “a significant number of further enquiries” since the report was released.
The government said it was unable to comment on the medical treatment of individual patients but added that any patients who have concerns about their care or treatment can contact the Patient Advisory Liaison Services, who are available Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm on 443515.
