Teh One Who Knocks
01-24-2022, 12:59 PM
By Kirsty Card, Reporter - The Daily Star
https://i.imgur.com/jJMCaNq.jpg
A man who lost his testicles to flesh-eating bacteria has lost his case against an NHS hospital trust at the High Court.
Stuart Dalchow, 55, had a "routine and uncomplicated" surgery to remove a 3cm cyst from his scrotum in April 2015.
The next day, he returned to St George's Hospital in London after suffering from severe pain but began to lose sensation in his scrotum by 8.30am.
The court heard how he was assessed by a doctor at 11:00am before seeing a more experienced consultant an hour later.
The experienced medic prescribed antibiotics – but they were never dispensed.
https://i.imgur.com/DkfyOtQ.jpg
Judge Southey said: "There is no dispute that this amounted to a breach of duty."
The father-of-six then had an ultrasound a 3pm before he had another review at 6pm, when he was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, a rare but serious bacterial infection that affects the tissue beneath the skin and surrounding muscles and organs.
He was taken into surgery to remove the right testicle but just months later had to have the left removed too.
In the patient's complaint to St George's University NHS Trust, he claimed a delay in administering antibiotics and carrying out an urgent ultrasound had contributed to his injury.
However, the trust said that it accepted there had been a breach of duty by not starting antibiotics when prescribed, it denied a breach over the speed of the ultrasound, adding that it would not have led to an earlier diagnosis.
The court also heard that antibiotics alone have a limited effect once necrosis starts.
In the judgement, Judge Southey dismissed Mr Dalchow's claim, saying: "Although it appears to me that breach of duty has been established, including breach of duty not admitted, it cannot be proved that the breach of duty caused loss."
https://i.imgur.com/jJMCaNq.jpg
A man who lost his testicles to flesh-eating bacteria has lost his case against an NHS hospital trust at the High Court.
Stuart Dalchow, 55, had a "routine and uncomplicated" surgery to remove a 3cm cyst from his scrotum in April 2015.
The next day, he returned to St George's Hospital in London after suffering from severe pain but began to lose sensation in his scrotum by 8.30am.
The court heard how he was assessed by a doctor at 11:00am before seeing a more experienced consultant an hour later.
The experienced medic prescribed antibiotics – but they were never dispensed.
https://i.imgur.com/DkfyOtQ.jpg
Judge Southey said: "There is no dispute that this amounted to a breach of duty."
The father-of-six then had an ultrasound a 3pm before he had another review at 6pm, when he was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, a rare but serious bacterial infection that affects the tissue beneath the skin and surrounding muscles and organs.
He was taken into surgery to remove the right testicle but just months later had to have the left removed too.
In the patient's complaint to St George's University NHS Trust, he claimed a delay in administering antibiotics and carrying out an urgent ultrasound had contributed to his injury.
However, the trust said that it accepted there had been a breach of duty by not starting antibiotics when prescribed, it denied a breach over the speed of the ultrasound, adding that it would not have led to an earlier diagnosis.
The court also heard that antibiotics alone have a limited effect once necrosis starts.
In the judgement, Judge Southey dismissed Mr Dalchow's claim, saying: "Although it appears to me that breach of duty has been established, including breach of duty not admitted, it cannot be proved that the breach of duty caused loss."