Doctor told cancer patient she had anorexia despite three ‘red flag’ signs

A woman was “fobbed off” by her doctors who failed to diagnose her colon cancer for a year, an investigation revealed.

In May 2019, Charlie Puplett, 45, expressed concern at her GP surgery in Yeovil, Somerset, about unexplained weight loss, lack of appetite and a change in bowel habits.

But the surgery did not test her for colon cancer – with one doctor suggesting she had anorexia and was “in denial”, she said.

She was not diagnosed until almost a year later when she was rushed to hospital after vomiting blood.

Ms Puplett’s experience was detailed in an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which found that her symptoms should have been “red flags” leading to urgent testing within two weeks, and said she had been “failed” by her doctors.

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Source: The Independent, 4 June 2023