16 year Old Girl Complained of Headaches Died After 13 Doctors Didn’t Identify Brain Tumour
Natasha Simmonds16 died after her doctors failed to diagnose a brain tumour despite being examined 24 times.
Natasha received treatment from 13 different doctors but they all failed to order an urgently needed MRI scan until it was too late.
Natasha’s mother Sarah Simmonds said that 3 months before Natasha died one of the A&E doctors that saw her accused her of ‘putting the symptoms on’ and because of that refused to give her an MRI scan saying that they only used for ‘life and death’ situations.
Natasha had been complaining of numbness in her limbs headaches back pain vomiting and eyesight problems.
These were then dismissed by the paediatrician as migraine symptoms. Natasha died on January 24 8 days after the tumour was found. The tumour had twisted around her brain and spine.
An inquest heard that the 16 year old had been visiting hospital since 2008 and her condition worsened in 2010.
In February 2012 she was referred to associate specialist paediatrician Colin Downie at Bath’s Royal United Hospital who had said she was suffering from migraines. Due to Natasha’s symptoms improving between her ill spells he said that it was not serious enough for an MRI.
Over the next 11 months Natasha was seen by 4 paediatric doctors 6 GPs and 3 A&E doctors all of whom failed to diagnose her condition.
In November Dr Downie ordered an MRI but Natasha did not undergo the scan until January and the were provided only 8 days before her death. The scan showed that she was suffering from a rare cancer – a disseminated oligodendroglioma-like leptomeningeal tumour.
The inquest heard that Dr Downie regretted the decision not to ask for a scan to be carried out urgently.
Natasha was then admitted to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where she had 2 emergency operations on her brain and spine. Natasha died from lung damage caused by the cancer on January 24th.
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