Patient labelled overweight 'showed no symptoms of cyst'

A doctor has disputed claims by a woman patient she had raised concerns about her abdomen for 16 months.

The doctor is facing charges of professional misconduct after allegedly failing to diagnose a 14.7kg ovarian cyst in the woman.

The cyst, containing 10 litres of fluid, was surgically removed in March 2004 from the woman, now aged 44.

The GP, who has interim name suppression, told a Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Christchurch yesterday the woman, who had been his patient for 12 years, did not present symptoms of a cyst to him.

The GP said that between 1991 and 2003 he had seen the woman for several complaints, including back injuries and pain, indigestion, chest pains, bowel problems and weight gain.

Her weight ballooned in the early 1990s from 54kg in 1991 to 79kg four years later but until 2002, he had found no tenderness or abnormalities during abdominal examinations.

In an examination in November, 2002, after the woman had complained of bloating, he had found no tenderness or masses in her abdomen.

He said he did not recall her complaining between February 2003 and 2004 of stomach pains, that her stomach "flopped over" when she rolled over in bed and that people had been asking if she was pregnant.

"If she reported anything like that then I would have recorded it and examined her."

There was no record of these complaints in his notes from her visits.

The hearing continues.

- NZPA