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Original poster

Medication compensation?

126 replies

ArnoldBee · 28/01/2023 18:13

My DH has just found out that the damage that his liver was caused by a medication that he was given in the past. No-one had ever told him - he only found out as he was given a print out by his GP for his urgent referral to cardiology. He's on various medications with his health issues and pretty much has been experimented on for the past 30 years as he is beyond current medical science.

There is nothing that can be done to heal his liver other than monitoring for the rest of his life.

His liver function is impacted by this damage which does impact on his everyday life.

I don't need opinions on the morals of suing the nhs as that's a moral question for him to consider for himself.

I just couldn't tell by googling if this was even a possibility?

OP posts:
TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 17:36

When was this letter dated, OP? Because it does not mention NASH or name a medication which might have caused liver failure. In fact it simply states that your husband has abnormal LFTs and offers a liver biopsy.

Did your DH have a liver biopsy?

When was NASH diagnosed?

What is the name of the medication you think is mentioned by a doctor as having caused liver failure in your husband?

Original poster
ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 18:37

I find it odd as there isn't a mention of anything. This is the letter before he got diagnosed with NASH.

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 31/01/2023 18:55

What’s NASH?

LIZS · 31/01/2023 19:07

But why would they mention it if there was no evidence?

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 19:07

ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 18:37

I find it odd as there isn't a mention of anything. This is the letter before he got diagnosed with NASH.

So did he have the liver biopsy, and was NASH diagnosed as a result?

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 19:09

Soontobe60 · 31/01/2023 18:55

What’s NASH?

It's a form of fatty liver disease not related to alcohol/alcoholism.

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 19:10

Have you got the letter which mentions him being beyond medical science?

Original poster
ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 19:13

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 19:07

So did he have the liver biopsy, and was NASH diagnosed as a result?

Show quote history

Yes!

OP posts:
TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 19:18

ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 19:13

Yes!

Show quote history

Okay, so how could it have been mentioned in the letter you've posted on here, which predated the biopsy and diagnosis?

Original poster
ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 19:18

Hence the medication revelation being a huge shock for him on the print out we now don't have.

His paperwork is all over the place so not got to the beyond medical science ones yet but that relates to his condition that they don't know what that is.

It is interesting to read in his other letters that there are no magic tests that they can invent for him to take and so that he's at the end of the road.

OP posts:
TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 21:22

Have you mislaid the printout which says which drug caused your husband's liver disease?

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 21:48

When you started the thread you said that your husband had ""just found out" that a drug he had been prescribed in the past had caused his liver disease. He saw it on a printout.
So he saw it a couple of days ago and now you've lost the printout?

MaverickSnoopy · 31/01/2023 22:29

I'm confused, did he have a scan to diagnose it or a biopsy? If the former, what type? Ultrasounds are unreliable.

You can actually reverse NASH with diet and exercise, I have a family member who did. Obviously if he's been told it's impossible then it might be, but a second opinion could be a good idea. I had mild fatty liver and phoned the British Liver Trust and spoke to a liver nurse for advice, they were amazing. I would definitely give them a call. There are also some pretty knowledgeable Facebook groups out there.

As for suing. Tbh even if it says "x medication caused it" I'm not sure how this could definitively be proven. So many things can cause it some people develop it despite leading a healthy life and not taking any medication. I just wonder if the defence could argue that it could have been a combination of factors.

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 22:36

MaverickSnoopy · 31/01/2023 22:29

I'm confused, did he have a scan to diagnose it or a biopsy? If the former, what type? Ultrasounds are unreliable.

You can actually reverse NASH with diet and exercise, I have a family member who did. Obviously if he's been told it's impossible then it might be, but a second opinion could be a good idea. I had mild fatty liver and phoned the British Liver Trust and spoke to a liver nurse for advice, they were amazing. I would definitely give them a call. There are also some pretty knowledgeable Facebook groups out there.

As for suing. Tbh even if it says "x medication caused it" I'm not sure how this could definitively be proven. So many things can cause it some people develop it despite leading a healthy life and not taking any medication. I just wonder if the defence could argue that it could have been a combination of factors.

OP said he'd had a biopsy.

Asdf12345 · 31/01/2023 22:51

To make a viable case for negligence you will need a expert witness report or two. They will want to review all the notes, no solicitor will stump up £600 an hour for someone to read an entire two tier trolley of notes cover to cover without really good odds of winning the case.

As it stands you have a fat diabetic man with a fatty liver (very common, probably
not the only one on your street), and a single line in a huge volume of notes, possibly in error, suggesting it was a fabulously rare drug reaction.

Even with reasonable evidence it was a drug reaction, even if no consent, no information leaflet, and a completely negligent use of the drug, the court only have to be 51% certain that the fatty liver is due to being a fat diabetic and you lose the case.

TheBigWangTheory · 31/01/2023 23:51

ArnoldBee · 31/01/2023 19:18

Hence the medication revelation being a huge shock for him on the print out we now don't have.

His paperwork is all over the place so not got to the beyond medical science ones yet but that relates to his condition that they don't know what that is.

It is interesting to read in his other letters that there are no magic tests that they can invent for him to take and so that he's at the end of the road.

The revelation that the liver damage was caused by a specific medication, but he doesn't know which one? And you don't have the print out that said it....and you don't have the page that says he's "beyond medical science"?
But you're thinking of looking for compensation because of this huge revelation you think you read but have no proof of....

TheShellBeach · 01/02/2023 00:06

TheBigWangTheory · 31/01/2023 23:51

The revelation that the liver damage was caused by a specific medication, but he doesn't know which one? And you don't have the print out that said it....and you don't have the page that says he's "beyond medical science"?
But you're thinking of looking for compensation because of this huge revelation you think you read but have no proof of....

Show quote history

Yes, it's not looking very hopeful in Court Five, is it?

MaverickSnoopy · 01/02/2023 06:01

TheShellBeach · 31/01/2023 22:36

OP said he'd had a biopsy.

Show quote history

She also said he had a scan to diagnose, so I just wanted to double check because it makes a big difference as to advice.

TheShellBeach · 01/02/2023 08:56

MaverickSnoopy · 01/02/2023 06:01

She also said he had a scan to diagnose, so I just wanted to double check because it makes a big difference as to advice.

Show quote history

Yes.
She posted at 19.13 yesterday they he'd had a biopsy.
But sometimes the posts are less than clear, I agree.

TheShellBeach · 01/02/2023 22:01

Have you found the missing paperwork, OP?

Original poster
ArnoldBee · 02/02/2023 05:36

In 2007 he was diagnosed with NASH as a result of the liver biopsy.

In October 2022 he had a print out stating he had liver damage due to xxx drug which was handed in to the cardiology unit. He had not been told this information previously.

January 2022 he's had another liver scan as his liver function tests are abnormal as per normal for him.

Given his hospital attendances since 1998 him just finding out is October 2022 as there is lots going on with multiple conditions so we focus on one thing at a time.

So in answer to a previous question it would not have been unreasonable to try him on xxx medication which would have been sotalol or flecanide to see if it did anything.

Access to our GP is really bad so much so the CQC and the local MP have had to be involved so any information they hold I will not get in the next couple of weeks. They have only just stamped the form for his free prescriptions submitted in September.

For those suggesting a phone appointment- I don't disagree but actually getting one is a miracle - he had an urgent appointment which took place 3 weeks later which as a result delayed him getting treatment which led to the hospital admission to deal with the consequences which led to the print out being seen in the first place.

The beyond medical science comments relates to another of his conditions not related to his liver.

In answer to another comment yes I may appear as an ambulance chaser but my DH is likely to be dead within 5 years and is now having to cease employment due to his health which is not liver related. He has had to live with the consequences of his liver damage.

I posed a question for him to consider any advice that may be available. As I stated before its up to him what he does with that advice.

OP posts:
Original poster
ArnoldBee · 02/02/2023 05:37

And for timeline purposes the note about the liver damage due to xxx drug was dated 2015.

OP posts:
Original poster
ArnoldBee · 02/02/2023 05:38

He hadn't had Sotalol or Flecanide after 2006.

OP posts:
TheShellBeach · 02/02/2023 08:54

Does he claim PIP? I imagine he'd be entitled, OP.

Original poster
ArnoldBee · 02/02/2023 09:06

That's a whole other very long and protracted saga.

OP posts:
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