On January 4, 23-year-old Charlotte Foster complained of back pain and shortness of breath.
Dr Sunil Idicula Simon, her doctor in Newport, UK, allegedly told Charlotte her pain was “muscular in origin” and recommended she have a spa day and “get a massage”.
Three weeks later, Charlotte collapsed at work and went into cardiac arrest. She died three days later after suffering brain damage.
Charlotte had developed a fatal blood clot after being prescribed contraceptive pill Dianette five months before her death.
Now, her doctor is facing disciplinary action for his role in her death, with an inquest hearing that he had missed Charlotte's symptoms and not taken note of preliminary testing that revealed the 23-year-old was at risk of a blood clot if prescribed the drug, MailOnline reports.
Dr Simon, who is due to appear before a General Medical Council investigation on June 2, is accused of "failing to obtain an adequate history or consider the possibility of a pulmonary embolism (PE) or deep vein thrombosis (DVT)" from his patient.
It's also alleged that during the consultation with Charlotte three weeks before her death, Dr Simon "failed to examine [the patient's] respiratory system, legs or scapula and failed to record her pulse, oxygen saturations or safety netting advice given".
Charlotte's family has been left "heartbroken" by her sudden death.
"We are devastated at the sudden and unexpected loss of a very much loved daughter, sister and granddaughter," her parents, Stephen 55, and Cecilia, 60, told the media in a joint statement.
"Charlotte was a lively, intelligent, beautiful, and caring young lady who will be deeply missed by her family, friends and work colleagues."
Her father Stephen, a retired anaesthetist, told MailOnline her death was "very sudden".
"I'm not sure how long she had been taking the pill for but it was only a matter of months," he said.
"She had a few health niggles but nothing too serious so it was all very sudden and a great shock to us all. [She] had a lot to look forward to in life.
Her older sister, Hannah, added that the family is "completely distraught" by what had happened.
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Top Comments
British news sites are full of stories like this. Apparently it takes weeks to get a GP appointment and when you do it seems only the very lucky or very assertive patients get any tests or referrals to specialists.