The SP government was ordered to compensate the man with R$50,000 after the report highlighted the mistake. State management and Unicamp did not comment
At the beginning of October, the government of the State of São Paulo was ordered to compensate R$50,000 for moral damages to a patient who had received a misdiagnosis at the Hospital das Clínicas by University of Campinas (Unicamp)inside San Paolo. When contacted, the state management and Unicamp did not respond. The space remains open.
In the process, the patient reports that he underwent tests at the hospital that diagnosed him with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a type of cancer that begins in lymphocytes, which are cells of the immune system responsible for defending the body against infections.
In 2020 he underwent chemotherapy treatment. However, new tests confirmed that the diagnosis was wrong and that he had never had cancer.
A report prepared by Institute of Social Medicine and Criminology of São Paulo (Imesc) and in the annex to the trial he underlined that the first diagnosis had been obtained through a biopsy of the bone lesion, but, after having viewed the slides, the result of the examination was changed to “inconclusive for the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, being considered an atypical lymphocytic infiltration due to a probable autoimmune disease”.
“The expert was not treated according to usual medical practice due to an incorrect diagnosis made by the pathological anatomy service, which stated that there was no preliminary information that the expert had an autoimmune disease, and an incorrect diagnosis of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma, immunophenotyping B,” reads the conclusion of the Imesc report.
Attorney Caique Mazzer, who represents the patient, said in the lawsuit that he had suffered serious side effects, such as severe pain, nausea and febrile neutropenia. He argued that subjecting himself to aggressive and unnecessary treatments, based on an incorrect diagnosis, constitutes a failure in the provision of public health services and requested compensation of R$250,000 for moral damages.
The case is against the Ministry of the Treasury of the State of São Paulo, which had initially argued that Unicamp, as an autonomous agency, was responsible. The state government even claimed that the documents sent by Unicamp demonstrate that “the author was given extensive and unrestricted treatment, using techniques recognized in the medical literature, without any errors attributable to clinical staff”.
However, Judge Francisco José Blanco Magdalena, of the 2nd Court of Public Finance, defended the responsibility of the State of São Paulo, which must guarantee the adequate provision of health services to the population, “also through its local authorities.
“Undergoing chemotherapy treatment without due necessity constitutes a serious failure to provide healthcare, giving rise to an obligation to compensate,” the judge wrote.
In the decision, Magdalena found that, despite the severity of the error, the aggressiveness of the undue treatment and the psychological distress of the patient, the side effects had no permanent consequences and established the compensation for moral damages at R$50,000.
“There is no denying the profound psychological shock and physical suffering inflicted on an individual who receives a cancer diagnosis and undergoes aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy, only to later discover that it was all a mistake,” he said. “The author was exposed not only to the severe side effects of treatment, such as nausea, pain and dangerous febrile neutropenia, but also to the anguish, fear and uncertainty inherent in the diagnosis of such a serious illness.”
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
