Girl 16 told six months pregnant by GP

[super jumbe]

Girl, 16, told by GP in front of her mother that she must be six months' pregnant actually had a giant TUMOUR... and can never have children

A 16-year-old girl told by an insistent GP that she must be six months' pregnant was given a scan only to find that the 'baby' was actually a giant ovarian tumour.

Phoebe Quatre-Morgan, from Bolton, visited her doctor after returning from a holiday with a swollen stomach, sickness in the mornings and a lack of appetite.

After visiting A&E with her mother, she was first told she had severe constipation and was sent home with medication, but when her symptoms worsened she consulted her GP and was told she was pregnant.

'The doctor was convinced I was, telling my mum that it was common for young girls to hide pregnancy from their families - my mum was just as shocked as me about what the doctor was telling us. I kept telling the GP I wasn't, but she just didn't listen.

Phoebe insisted that it would be impossible for her to be pregnant and when she went for an ultrasound, the scan revealed the ?baby? was instead a lump.

Nurses referred her to The Christie hospital in Manchester, which specialises in cancer treatments, and was diagnosed with an ovarian tumour.



Did the doctor ever bother to apologize?

Seems it was rather stupid and mean of the doctor to blurt out a diagnosis without anything to confirm it.

Thoes who make mistakes should be struck out of registry???.

[johnboy1974]

So did the doctor even bother to give the girl a pregnancy test??.

[super jumbe]

Doctor is a doctor, they can tell if you are pregnant just looking at your face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To good, they do not need medical equipments to check any more??.

[Canker_Canison]

A wrongly diagnosed complaint in A&E & again in the acute admissions ward by hospital doctors nearly cost me my life.
It was only my GP that recognised the severity of my problem. If not for him I'd be dead.

There are good doctors & bad ones. I have a very good doctor, but this 16year old should put a complaint in.

[ChelseaBun]

thats so sad, bet the poor girl is wishing she was pregnant.

what a horrible doctor to just assume without even doing any tests, its not in their job descriptions to go on what statistics say!

[TheCoder]

......, its not in their job descriptions to go on what statistics say!

Unfortunately, thats pretty much exactly how most GP's diagose !

They work through the list of symptoms then make an 'educated' guess on the cause based on likelyhood and probability. For most GP's the whole system is based on statistics.

[racin-snake]

Unfortunately, thats pretty much exactly how most GP's diagose !

They work through the list of symptoms then make an 'educated' guess on the cause based on likelyhood and probability. For most GP's the whole system is based on statistics.

without even trying to test using a pregnancy test kit ?


mmm i smell bullshit mate

as doctors are well trained to diagnose by tests ..not guess on stats and have a huge inventory of testing facilities at their disposal


this wasn't a diagnosis of any description this was a ~~~~in guess by my reckoning ?

and he should have apologised at least for the stupidity of his actions hope they sue the knob !

[Johnner]

It's even worse than that,the doc's a girlie !!!

I can hear Jim Diamond ringing in my ears now " Should've known better "

[Evastar]

Unfortunately, thats pretty much exactly how most GP's diagose !

They work through the list of symptoms then make an 'educated' guess on the cause based on likelyhood and probability. For most GP's the whole system is based on statistics.

and they don't even need to remember what symptoms relate to what diseases these days, they can just type the list into their computers and come up with the most common diagnosis.

doctors don't send everyone for tests, if they did there would be massive waiting lists in all the hospitals. it's only if your symptoms are very easily recognised to be serious or you keep going back again and again with the same complaint that you will be referred on for tests.

[racin-snake]

and they don't even need to remember what symptoms relate to what diseases these days, they can just type the list into their computers and come up with the most common diagnosis.

doctors don't send everyone for tests, if they did there would be massive waiting lists in all the hospitals. it's only if your symptoms are very easily recognised to be serious or you keep going back again and again with the same complaint that you will be referred on for tests.

Lets put it this way then ..when you were pregnant and a huge majority of other women too Eva
did the doctor perform a pregnancy test or just tell by the symptoms ?


that's the bit even the article fails to give any semblance of a clue to ?

if the girl was so adamant about being "NOT" PREGNANT
THAT WOULD HAVE DECIDED A POINT ?

[TheCoder]

without even trying to test using a pregnancy test kit ?

Its possible a test was done but conveniently not reported as some tumours can cause elevated hCG levels.

Its also possible a test was not done as other more obvious signs were present. The Dr has probably felt the 'lump' and made an assumption based on the examination and experience. Remember she was diagnosed as six months pregnant !

mmm i smell bullshit mate

I know how Dr's, especially GP's, operate. They're often on a tight budget and will very often simply work down a probabilities list that fits the symptoms. They aren't going to order expensive tests if they dont feel they are needed (talking generally here rather than specific case)

as doctors are well trained to diagnose by tests ..not guess on stats and have a huge inventory of testing facilities at their disposal

GP's aren't particularly well trained as diagnosticians. Thats a seperate and specialised field of medicine. Any initial tests ordered are usually only to illiminate one or more possibilities when several options have a relatively equal probability.

this wasn't a diagnosis of any description this was a ~~~~in guess by my reckoning ?

As i've explained, a large chunk of medicine is a guess. Its an 'expert' guess based on knowledge and past experience but its still basically a guess.

and he should have apologised at least for the stupidity of his actions hope they sue the knob !

They should certainly apologize but I bet you a legal consult has advised them not to as it may be seen as admitting liability. Unfortunately, without peer review, its impossible to say whether any malpractice was involved here or not

I suspect that this is a case where the press are simply looking for a sensational story without actually having the foggiest idea (or not caring) as to how the Dr's conclusion was reached. Yes, sadly the Dr's conclusion was wrong but that doesn't prove any malpractice !

[racin-snake]

whats it prove's then were paying GPs good money to make up a crock of shit ?

any chance of a link to the stuff you selectively copied and pasted ?


id like to see the whole lot especially the diagnostician part
also the elevated hCG levels. that were mentioned by you yet never tested for by the doctor

thanks it would be a better read the whole thing than your selective cut

why defend a doctor and claim sensationalism when she obviously ~~~~ed right up ?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...an-tumour.html
here look for the full story hardly sensational for the girl mate is it ?
and if it all comes down to hiding behind lawyers and liability
what a ~~~~in mess were in
and you say you know how doctors work ....

[TheCoder]

I'm not particularly trying to defend this particular Dr. I'm simply trying to introduce a little balance into what is outwardly a sensationalist and extremly biased story by explaining a little bit about how Dr's actually operate. Diagnosing peoples illnesses is far from an exact science. In this particular case, i've no idea what actually occured.

hCG, btw, is the detectable hormone actually produced by a developing embryo. Its how most pregnancy testing is done. I knew about it already but couldn't remember the name (its 20 odd years since I did this stuff at School) so I did look it up on the net.

Diagnostician - well, just look it up. Its basically a Dr who's speciality is complex diagnosis. The specialists that a GP sends you off to see when they run out of ideas is often a limited field diagnostician. Full field diagnosticians are extremely rare. I suppose the most likely example of a diagnostician would be the 'House' TV series - very OTT but still a useful example.

[racin-snake]

I'm not particularly trying to defend this particular Dr. I'm simply trying to introduce a little balance into what is outwardly a sensationalist and extremly biased story by explaining a little bit about how Dr's actually operate. Diagnosing peoples illnesses is far from an exact science. In this particular case, i've no idea what actually occured.

hCG, btw, is the detectable hormone actually produced by a developing embryo. Its how most pregnancy testing is done. I knew about it already but couldn't remember the name (its 20 odd years since I did this stuff at School) so I did look it up on the net.

Diagnostician - well, just look it up. Its basically a Dr who's speciality is complex diagnosis. The specialists that a GP sends you off to see when they run out of ideas is often a limited field diagnostician. Full field diagnosticians are extremely rare. I suppose the most likely example of a diagnostician would be the 'House' TV series - very OTT but still a useful example.

i know what a diagnostician is mate dont be an ar*e trying to score points
so you were playing the devils advocate ?
you mean trying to look clever and googling some shite to help you look clever

yea mate you make lookin a to**er look easy
where does it state that general practitioners are not trained diagnosticians to a certain degree ?
do no gps diagnose any more is that what your saying ?
anyhoo the doctor ~~~~ed up big time
you say its just the way it goes though tell that to an ill girl being told she's a liar in front of her mother etc. ?

yea lawyers and doctors cant even apologise and your obviously on the defensive and bouncing sensationalism and other stuff to make the fact the doctor didnt know her arse from her t*t

yup clever guy you are coder

[tshirtman]

I would put more blame with A+E, they sent her home with laxatives, and they have all the diagnosis equipment at hand,