ABSTRACT
In January 1984, a patient named Michael was taken seriously ill with kidney failure. Following dialysis, he developed an infection that required treatment with antibiotics. Michael told the doctor treating him that in the past he had reacted badly to penicillin, but he was prescribed the drug nonetheless. Michael developed what he called ‘the mother and father of all rashes’, which kept him in hospital for a further five weeks. Michael reported that:
Afterwards, I asked, ‘I said that I was sensitive to penicillin; why did you give it to me?’ The answer was, ‘Oh well, old boy, it was the best antibiotic for your particular infection and we thought that we could take the chance.’ Whose chance? Whose life? Whose body? Who is the sufferer? What is the compensation? What is the complaints procedure? There appears to be no such procedure. The patient is just the fall guy who is in the hands of doctors who think that they know better than the patient.1
