Teen girl died after doctors said she had UTI and prescribed ibuprofen

Teen girl died after doctors said she had UTI and prescribed ibuprofen Chloe’s mum eventually refused to leave the GP surgery unless they ran more tests A teenage girl died of cancer after she was misdiagnosed with a urine infection and told to take ibuprofen. At just 15 years old, Chloe Venton was waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain for months, but doctors kept insisting it was just a urinary tract infection (UTI). It was only after Chloe’s mum Joanne Venton, 42, refused to leave the GP surgery unless they ran more tests that she was referred to the local hospital. Scans at the Great Western Hospital revealed a tumour on Chloe’s spine, and she was quickly referred to John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, to undergo more tests. Joanne received the diagnosis that her daughter Chloe had an aggressive form of Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. Two years after her first diagnosis, Joanne and Chloe's dad Gary, 43, had to fight doctors again to get Chloe diagnosed with leukaemia, a secondary cancer, which ultimately led to her death aged 17. Joanne said: “It breaks my heart to think Chloe may still be here if they hadn't misdiagnosed her at first and then missed the leukaemia. Her first symptoms were waking up in the middle of the night screaming in agony and sweating buckets and constantly needing to go to the toilet. “She had UTIs as a child so the doctors just brushed it off as that and gave her antibiotics. Over the next seven months I lost count of how many times we went back to the doctors as the antibiotics weren’t working. One day, Chloe rang me from college saying that she almost wet herself so I took her straight to the doctor and again they brushed it off as a UTI. “Chloe’s pain in her lower back had radiated around to her hips, she was becoming numb in her lower body and now losing control of her bladder. At such a young age these were not normal, and I knew something else was wrong so I refused to leave the GP's office. “The GP then sent us to the hospital just to shut me up, and that’s where the scans first revealed the tumour. When your kids are so young you presume it's something not as sinister, you think it may be an injury or anything else.” In May 2018, Chloe was referred to Great Western Hospital, Swindon, for her first test and then to John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, after the tumour was found in scans. At John Radcliffe Hospital, Chloe underwent scans, blood tests, MRIs, CT scans and saw a spinal specialist. Joanne said: “We were pushed to different teams because no one knew what was going on. “I was about to discharge her, but a consultant took me and my husband to the side and said they were so concerned and to keep her in hospital. “I’ll never forget the next morning. Gary and I were taken to a small, cold white room and told she had cancer. It was a whirlwind from there. In my head, I thought she can't have cancer; cancer is for people that abuse their bodies or have a genetic condition. I couldn't believe in my head that my teenage daughter had it. “Chloe wanted to be a doctor herself and was doing a work placement at the local hospital and had worked with cancer patients while there. “When she got the diagnosis, she was so grown up, asking the doctor questions, and she already knew a lot about the treatment process. It was bizarre, but her placement eased her mind when she got diagnosed. “Within a couple of hours, she began her first round of chemotherapy.” A 2023 study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) estimated that misdiagnoses affect around 1 in 18 patients in primary and secondary care. The same study found that misdiagnosed cancers, strokes, and heart attacks were among the most serious cases, often leading to life-altering consequences or death. After ten cycles of chemotherapy, proton therapy and then a furter five cycles of chemotherapy, Chloe started to get very ill again and developed a rash, which doctors said was just a side effect of the treatment. Joanne said: “Again, I had to fight the doctors that something wasn't right. “That rash turned out to be leukaemia cutis, leukaemia of the skin, and she was also diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow.” Chloe died unexpectedly aged 17 in July 2020. Since it was during COVID, the family had to hold a socially distanced funeral. Joanne said: “It was a complete nightmare and something we will always hate the Government for. “They had parties while we couldn't spend our final days together as a family. We weren't allowed funeral cars so I had to drive myself behind my own daughter's coffin, it was horrific.” Joanne added: “I want to talk about it so other people don't get missed in the system and end up losing their daughter like that. Chloe’s laugh was infectious, her smile was amazing, she had the biggest heart, and she wouldn't complain or cry to anyone except me. “In her final days, she said to me, ‘I’ll never see my brothers grow up and get married and I’ll never get to be the auntie I want to be’, which just broke me.”