An 84-year-old woman died in the UK after her tongue turned black and fell out due to a misdiagnosis, her family claims.
Patricia Hutchinson's daughters Susan Bartle and Pauline Rissetto, from Darlington told the Daily Mail their mother suffered for weeks before her tongue went black.
At one point, Mrs Hutchinson's tongue had to be taped to her cheek. She also had to be fed through a tube. Gradually with the passage of time the feeding tube did not help and her heath worsened.
While Patricia was living at a care home, her children believe the tube got trapped between her legs because it was too long. Her health never got better and sadly she died in January 2015.
Now her family claim hospital staff and GPs missed several opportunities to properly spot the symptoms of temporal arteritis, which is a condition that "causes inflammation of blood vessels in the head that led to the loss of her tongue".
When Patricia started feeling pain in her tongue, shoulder, head and had issues with her eyesight she reported it. Susan and Pauline allege that three doctors from the Neasham Road Surgery visited her. But they missed the signs of temporal arteritis. Blood tests which could have helped identify the condition were also delayed.
Hutchinson was admitted to hospital when her condition began to make her weak and dehydrated. However it was too late as her tongue turned black and died. After numerous complaints, care provider, Darlington NHS Trust initiated a new system to handle and identify patients with Patricia’s condition.
The sisters are sharing their beloved mother's story in the hopes of others won’t have to suffer in a similar way. "If sharing her story can save one person's life by making someone think about what should have been done differently, that will be justice for my mam," Bartlet told the Daily Mail.
