A teenage Victorian girl nearly died after a hospital told her she was pregnant when she was critically ill from a brain infection.
Kate Newton, a 16-year-old from Narre Warren in Melbourne's south-west, was resuscitated after she suffered a heart attack, the Herald Sun newspaper reports.
She was then operated on, with neurosurgeons forced to drill a hole into her skull to release fluid that had been putting pressure on her brain.
Ms Newton had been originally sent home from Casey Hospital after she was admitted on June 3 for a chronic headache.
The hospital told Miss Newton she must be pregnant and a test revealed she had a urinary tract infection.
Despite pleas to undergo a brain scan, she was instead given intravenous fluids and sent home with antibiotics.
Two days later she was back at Casey after the headaches worsened but her request for a brain scan was again refused and she was diagnosed with vertigo.
On June 9 Miss Newton took a turn for the worse and she was admitted to Dandenong Hospital for a brain scan which revealed she was at serious risk.
She was rushed to Monash Medical Centre where she had the heart attack but was revived.
The teen required further surgery and spent days in intensive care, and she still suffers from dizzy spells and short-term memory loss.
Southern Health, which runs Casey Hospital, told the newspaper it was investigating its handling of Ms Newton.
ninemsn 12 Jul 2010.
The politics of Health Care in Australia are quite simple. Like in the USA, if you do NOT have the money you will not have the health care.
The hospital should be sued for this BUT as with all investigations of this calibre, a coverup will occur.
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