Patient visited hospital 13 times ‘begging’ for MRI that may have prevented his death
A 27-year-old man from the city of Leeds in England reportedly visited a hospital 13 times this year, begging for an MRI scan that may have prevented his death.
Sherwin Hall first sought care on March 23 while suffering from leg pain but was misdiagnosed and sent home with antibiotics. It wasn’t until May 26 that he finally underwent imaging that unearthed tumors on his pelvis and in his lungs, the BBC reported.
Hall had allegedly implored the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for diagnostic care, his wife told the news service. However, the health system had reserved scanners only for “urgent interventions,” with radiology services slowed down due to the pandemic.
“It is likely he would still be here today,” LaTroya Hall told the BBC.
The U.K. National Health Services Trust is reportedly grappling with backlog of 50,000 people living with undiagnosed cancer across the country, the Macmillan
Cancer Support charity estimates.
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Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.