them and remove spam from the address.This web site is dedicated to our daughter Michaela, who caught Lemierre's Syndrome and later died.
Our GP misdiagnosed her symptoms and later lied about what really happened when he examined her.
Lemierre's Syndrome (Click here to learn more about the illness)
Michaela Edwards (Midge) - Very much missed and always in our hearts.
In April 2001 our daughter Michaela contracted a rare illness called Lemierre's Syndrome. After repeated visits to the doctor's and finally admission into hospital Michaela died on May 18th 2001. She was just three weeks away from her sixteenth birthday. Previously she was a very healthy young girl.
We Michaela's parents pursued a complaint against the GP involved, partly because on our final visit he ignored some very serious symptoms, but mainly because he lied about what really happened at that consultation. Our complaint was in vain because we found no one qualified will look at and verify the simple facts we have supplied. The people who said they would later backed away we assume because of peer pressure.
The symptoms Michaela had should have indicated pneumonia at the very least, but the doctor conveniently denies the symptoms were present and the authorities all take his word for it, even though all the evidence proves otherwise. If the evidence was wrong surely they would have proved it after all this time, so instead they conveniently ignored it.
The final stage of our complaint was an investigation by the 'Health Service Ombudsman' which to be honest was a total waste of time and tax payers money. The Investigation was completely biased towards the doctor without any effort to confirm any of the facts. They promised to contact the experts and witnesses, but the only people other than the doctor and myself they appear to have talked to are the practice receptionists, hardly unbiased observers. We provided them with witnesses and more than enough evidence to prove we were telling the truth, unfortunately they chose to ignore the facts even though the doctor’s version of events is full of inconsistencies.
The complaints procedure and the Ombudsman's investigation were both very long winded and conveniently skipped the simple and conclusive facts. Not once did anyone contact professionals experienced with this sort of illness. Not once did anyone contact any of our witnesses. This case should really be very simple and most of the evidence is indisputable.
The facts that we have collected confirm beyond doubt that -
The symptoms must have been present when the doctor examined Michaela, which also proves that he didn't give her a thorough examination as he insists, which also confirms that he his not telling the truth about the consultation.
That we are telling the truth about what really happened at that consultation.
Michaela would be alive today if it was not for an incompetent doctor.
The full story about what happened can be read in the links below.
The Ombudsman's Report and relevant files
File 1 What happened? My thoughts about the Ombudsman's excuse of an Investigation.
File 2 Intro What you should know before reading the report.
File 3 The Report The report in full with corrections.
File 4 Conclusion Was this really an investigation or a cover-up?
You can view the above files with Microsoft Word or 'WordPad', or alternatively download the 'Word Viewer'
For anyone concerned about the doctor's diagnosis or about what I said Michaela's symptoms were, more information about the illness can be found on the link below. Please also remember I would not expect any GP to diagnose this rare illness, but I would have expected a GP to realise something other than Glandular Fever simply because of the seriousness of some of the symptoms. The fact that Michaela responded to penicillin should have indicated it was not viral and something was seriously wrong.
Check here for some significant Incidents?
You can see here why the GP and the Ombudsman's experts are wrong
Where do we go next? We would appreciate any suggestion or advice about this.
Older Files
What happened before the Ombudsman's Investigation? Find out in the next two documents followed by the list of symptoms given to the GP and a page from Michaela's 'National Record of Achievement', which she never had a chance to see.
File 1 The Tragedy What happened, up until the day she died.
File 2 The Travesty continues What happened after up until the Ombudsman's Investigation.
This also includes what happened at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and why they destroyed Michaela's last chance of survival. We issued a complaint against Addenbrooke's Hospital when we complained about our GP, but were advised by the Community Health Council to let it drop. They said we can only pursue one complaint.
File 3 List.jpg A copy of the list which was given to the GP, who then diagnosed Glandular Fever.
The GP originally denied having seen this list, yet later when confronted admitted he may have seen it he does not remember. Strange that he still insists his memory is so good he could remember Michaela walking into his consultation room.
Two other GP's and 3 consultants say the symptoms on the list indicate something much more serious than Glandular Fever.
File 4 NTA.jpg A page from Michaela's National Record of Achievement.
Some Pictures of Michaela
Michaela. jpg A School photograph about a year before Michaela died.
Michaela1.jpg Michaela posing at her friends house.
Michaela2.jpg Michaela on holiday.
Michaela3.jpg Michaela and Ryan.
Michaela4.jpg Michaela with her mum on holiday.
Michaela5.jpg Michaela growing up age 15.
Michaela6.jpg The last picture we had of Michaela before she became ill.
These are large pictures I would recommend not viewing unless you have broadband.
What the papers said - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - Scans taken from the newspapers.
Michaela in hospital - 1 - 2 - 3 - These were taken when we still thought Michaela would survive.
Your suggestions and comments are very welcome
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Last updated 28th March 2010 (New Server + link to word viewer)