A woman was wrongly diagnosed with lupus, a disease affecting the immune system, and took steroids for this for three years while Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust carried out more investigations.
Her correct diagnosis of fibromyalgia, a condition that causes severe pain all over her body, was found and treated by a different trust.
The health ombudsman's investigation found it was unreasonable for the trust to have diagnosed the woman with lupus because she did not have the clinical indicators for this condition and the medication was unnecessary.
The trust had also acknowledged prescribing a drug in error – one intended for another patient.
The trust wrote to the woman to acknowledge its failing and apologise for it. It paid her £2,000 to recognise its misdiagnosis, failure to provide a correct diagnosis and lack of symptomatic relief in the three years that she was under its care.
The case, which took place in Cambridgeshire, is one of several examples released by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on Wednesday.
No further details about the case were released by the ombudsman.
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