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Scores of rheumatology patients have joined a potential clinical negligence class action lawsuit against the Health Department after being misdiagnosed or wrongly prescribed powerful drugs – with some claiming to have suffered "devastating and irreversible" consequences.
Local law firm Viberts confirmed yesterday that they had received enquiries from over 110 patients of Jersey’s Rheumatology Department and "are currently in the process of meeting with them all individually".
In a statement yesterday, Viberts said: "[The patients] have suffered a range of complications and side effects, from relatively minor to the most serious.
"For some, the impact on their lives has been devastating and irreversible."
Published yesterday, the report said that there was a "lack of governance, not just in rheumatology but across the healthcare organisation".
The review also noted that in some cases there was “no evidence of clinical examination” and there was “on occasions, an incorrect diagnosis”.
Pictured: Rheumatology deals with arthritis and several other conditions that affect the joints, tendons, muscle, ligaments.
Following a recommendations from the Royal College of Physicians, the Health department also conducted an internal audit of rheumatology patient records earlier this year.
The audit involved checking the past treatment and diagnosis of a group of 341 rheumatology patients – all of whom who were prescribed a group of drugs known as ‘biologics’ in the period before January 2022.
Biologics are a group of powerful drugs derived from natural sources such as human, animal, fungal or microbial cells. These drugs work by suppressing the immune system and disrupting the inflammation process that leads to joint pain.
These drugs can be valuable for rheumatology patients, but should always be used with caution as they can also make patients more susceptible to life-threatening infections.
This audit has been completed and in over half the records reviewed, clinicians were not able to identify sufficient evidence to support the patient’s diagnosis.
Approximately one-in-four of the 341 patients reviewed had their biologic drugs discontinued because these drugs were not felt to be necessary.
The findings of this audit prompted HCS to widen its review to approximately 2,400 patients, including rheumatology patients on Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDS) and non-rheumatology patients seen in recent years by the doctors leading the rheumatology service prior to January 2022.
Of more than a thousand patients on DMARDS, over 45% of diagnoses were changed and almost a third of patients have had their DMARDS stopped.
Pictured: Chief Officer for Health and Community Services, Chris Bown with the Royal College of Physicians' review of Jersey's Rheumatology Department.
Chris Bown, Chief Officer for Health and Community Services, yesterday confirmed that compensation for patients was being discussed.
"We will be contacting any patient where we think harm may have been caused and we will be discussing with lawyers an appropriate approach to compensation," he said.
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