Double Dose of Shame and Jealousy Prompts Medical Misdiagnosis Lawsuit

A married couple from Contra Costa County in California has filed a medical misdiagnosis lawsuit against the United States for allegedly being put through an emotional whirlwind of embarrassment, shame, jealousy and mistrust for being misdiagnosed with an STD.

The plaintiffs filed their complaint on January 29, 2015 in United States District Court, Northern District of California for damages totaling $1,000,000 on grounds of negligence by a public health facility, Brookside Community Health Care.

Plaintiff receives shocking news

The female plaintiff arrived at Brookside on January 2, 2013 seeking medical care for an undisclosed ailment. Brookside Community Health Care, a Health Care Center Grantee, is operated by LifeLong Medical Care, and is considered a Public Health Service employee.

The plaintiff was administered a test for sexually transmitted diseases that same day and on January 10, 2013 was advised in a phone message that she had tested positive for gonorrhea and needed immediate medical treatment. On January 11, the Brookside Community medical staff notified her that her husband, her co-plaintiff, was also likely to have gonorrhea and that each of them should begin a course of medical treatment for the STD. The female plaintiff was given an injection of Ceftriazone by a member of the Brookside medical staff for treatment of her gonorrhea.

The male plaintiff visited Brookside Community Health Care on January 16, 2013 and was administered a test for sexually transmitted diseases. Like his wife, he was also diagnosed with gonorrhea and was administered an injection of Rocephin to treat his STD.

Marriage put to severe test

The news that the plaintiffs each had gonorrhea was extremely upsetting to the couple and immediately put their marriage to the test of dealing with a loss of confidence and trust in each other even as they came to grips with the medical implications of having an STD.

Still reeling from the diagnoses, they were then told by the staff at Brookside Community that the gonorrhea infection had now placed the health and welfare of their newborn child at risk.

According to court papers, the couple were caught in a swirl of ”…suffering, anguish, fright, horror, nervousness, grief, worry, shock, humiliation, and shame.”

More information sought

The plaintiffs sought further medical assistance for their disease and information about the new risk to their child. They were stunned to find out upon re-examination that they had both been misdiagnosed by the medical staff at Brookside and that neither plaintiff had gonorrhea at all.

Medical misdiagnosis lawsuit seeks damages for negligence

The plaintiffs at first each presented a Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death to the Department of Health and Human Services on January 8, 2014 as redress for their horrendous experience at Brookside Community Health Care. On August 12, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services notified them that their claim was denied.

With this lawsuit filing, the plaintiffs seek $1,000,000 from the United States of America for the medical negligence exhibited by the Public Health Service facility and staff at Brookside Community.

The lawsuit claims damages for injury, including physical and mental injury, and mental and physical shock. The damages seek compensation for the emotional suffering and distress inflicted on the plaintiffs’ marriage, the negligent misdiagnosis, and the placing of the plaintiffs on a regimen of prescription drugs to treat the phantom gonorrhea.

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