Medical failure blamed for ending soldier’s Army career

A SOLDIER had his British Army career ended prematurely after a doctor “failed to prescribe him vital drugs” he needed before spending long hours on duty in cramped vehicles, the High Court heard.

Adam Tong, 37, was left in continuous pain and unable to lift heavy loads after the doctor did not pass on advice from a specialist to take bloodthinning drugs.

He was medically discharged from the Army in 2014 after suffering a deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) after travelling long hours in a cramped armoured vehicle.

Mr Tong, from Whitstable, Kent, was deployed to Afghanistan in September 2011. His medical problems began when he first developed a DVT in the December, just days after running a marathon as part of off-duty activities in the country.

A few days after the race, Mr Tong spent several hours in cramped armoured vehicles. He suffered pain and swelling in his right calf, and was treated with warfarin after a scan in January 2012 showed a thrombosis. In July that year, he was treated in the haemophilia clinic at Belfast City Hospital.

Dr Sarah Porter, a medical officer, wrote to a consultant haematologist, and was told there was “an increased risk of recurrent DVTs” and that Mr Tong would need heparin for any journey longer than three hours.

But according to the Ministry of Defence’s claim “she did not pass on this advice”, in what it claimed was a breach of her duty as a doctor. She denied failing to pass on the haematology advice.

Mr Tong subsequently developed a second thrombosis caused by three five-hour-long car journeys.

Mr Tong sued the MoD for damages of £1.48million over his condition, with his claim being settled for £295,000.

But the MoD, which did not admit liability, then sued Dr Porter for a contribution. She has now agreed to pay £50,000 without admitting liability.