This case discusses how over-reassuring a colleague’s previous diagnosis can sue a general practitioner. The Case A 39-year-old print worker, attended his local Emergency Department (ED) one evening with a six-hour history of vomiting and abdominal discomfort. The symptoms had come on shortly after eating a takeaway meal. He was seen by a physician, a doctor-in-training on the emergency medicine rotation. The physician documented a detailed abdominal examination which showed no evidence of an acute abdomen.
The physician diagnosed acute gastritis or early gastroenteritis and advised the patient to go home, rest, and see his GP the next day if things had not settled down. By lunchtime the next day, the patient felt increasingly unwell and had been feverish, so he went to his GP. The notes kept by his GP were somewhat brief and did not record an abdominal examination. The patient later…
