Slow diagnosis of H1N1 case to be reviewed
Last Updated: Thursday, November 19, 2009 | 9:07 AM NT
CBC News
Health officials have agreed to look into the complaint of a woman from Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula who says health care workers moved too slowly in diagnosing and treating her husband for swine flu.
Colleen King, of Marystown, said that as a result of the delays, her husband is hooked up to a ventilator at a hospital in St. John's, fighting for his life.
Trevor King, 27, was airlifted to the provincial capital from the hospital in Burin more than a week ago and put into an induced coma to protect his organs, although doctors have already told the family that his lungs are badly damaged.
King was seen by doctors at least four times at the hospital in Burin before he was diagnosed with H1N1, his family says.
Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said he would try to find out what happened in the case.
"If a family has concerns about the way they have been dealt with, or one of their loved ones has been dealt with," he said, "I can reassure them that the Department of Health and the regional health authorities will look into their concerns."
Colleen King said her husband has been active all his life, has never smoked and has no apparent underlying health conditions.
He first went to the hospital 2½ weeks ago, saying he was fatigued, had a fever and felt aches in his bones. He was given Tylenol and told to go home, she said.
Two days later he was told essentially the same thing, and three days later he was told he had pneumonia, given medication and sent home again.
Colleen King said she believes her husband is so sick now because he wasn't treated early enough.
"I spoke to nurses and doctors, and as soon as they heard that he had a 104.8 temperature, they said he had it then. It's just he wasn't swabbed in time, he wasn't treated in time."
King has been at her husband's bedside for the past week. She said she's going public with her story to ensure no one else has to go through a similar ordeal.
Her husband is in stable condition now, she said Wednesday, but he isn't showing any signs of improvement.
