Gravesend couple who fears their son could die if he plays football sue GP for ‘misdiagnosis’

They are suing a GP accusing him of failing to diagnose Kawasaki disease which left Azlan Chowdhury, 10, with a swollen coronary artery.

• Chandrashekar Bhat
• 21 December, 2022

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By: Chandrashekar Bhat

A Gravesend couple is suing a GP whose negligence they believe has left their son with a now-irreversible heart complication.

Azlan Chowdhury, 10, who loves football, could die if he goes for a kickabout due to Kawasaki disease which was not diagnosed in time when he was six months old, according to his parents.

He cannot engage in physical activities which children of his age normally do as the disease has left him with a swollen coronary artery.

While the disease should be treated within 10 days of symptoms, Chowdhury’s parents said it was not detected for 18 days because of the GP’s ‘misdiagnosis’.

The boy fell sick with a rash and fever – the symptoms of Kawasaki disease – in 2013 when the family was living in East London.

Newham University Hospital referred Azlan to The Centre Manor Park practice, where chicken pox was diagnosed, the Mirror reported.

But his actual condition was diagnosed after a doctor sent him to a London hospital for a scan. Although he received hospital care for a month, the doctors said it was too late to reverse the swelling in his artery.

His father Mohammed said the boy who rooted for England in the just concluded football World Cup “can’t play, run or climb” because of the disease.

“I spend all of my time trying to make sure he doesn’t do anything that would be too much for his heart, but I always fear I am going to get a phone call from school saying something terrible has happened,” he said.

Azlan, who has to take seven medicines every day, should not get too stressed.

The Mirror report said the GP accused of misdiagnosis has denied any liability.

According to the NHS, symptoms of Kawasaki disease become less severe after a week with the right treatment although it could take longer for some children.

The disease, which mainly affects children aged below five years, could lead to heart complications in the absence of treatment in 25 per cent of cases, the health organisation said.

It warns that the condition could become fatal in two-three per cent of cases.