15-year torment for patient told he was carrying disease

A PATIENT who was led to believe he had an incurable brain illness for 15 years could have been given the all-clear in 1993.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman said the man, who was treated at the Western General, was told he had a 96 per cent chance of carrying Huntington's disease in 1989. But the patient was not re-tested until 2007, when he was found not to be a carrier. The diagnosis influenced two female members of his family to have a termination.

The Ombudsman upheld complaints about the time it has taken NHS Lothian to offer the new test.