Death Following Failure to Diagnose an Adrenal Tumour

T was aged 35 at the date of her death. She lived with her three children.  T had a long history of headaches but despite such headaches no formal diagnosis was made. 

T also suffered with hypertension and palpations. When she was admitted to hospital with a severe headache she had a reduced glasgow coma score and despite being transferred to ITU she suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest and died.  The post-mortem revealed that T had an adrenal tumour which had not been diagnosed and which was one of the causes of death.

T’s family were devastated that such a young life had been lost and instructed the specialist team at Minton Morrills to investigate any areas of clinical negligence.   Expert evidence was commissioned from an Endocrinologist who was of the opinion that T had raised adrenaline levels which had not been acted upon and had they been acted upon the tumour would have been diagnosed much earlier and had it been diagnosed much earlier it would have been removed by surgery leading to a complete cure.

Eventually we were able to secure an admission of liability from the hospital along with an apology as well as damages to reflect the loss of services of a mother for her three surviving children.