Hospital Trust Admits Misdiagnosis Led to 42 Unnecessary Procedures

A man from Tamworth has endured more than seven years of unnecessary medical treatment after being wrongly diagnosed with a terminal blood disorder, a hospital trust has admitted. Simon Pearson, 41, was told he had polycythaemia vera, a slow-growing blood cancer, in 2017 after being referred to George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton with symptoms including tiredness, a high red blood cell count, and abnormal iron levels.

He was later further misdiagnosed with haemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes the body to store toxic amounts of iron. Believing he had a terminal illness, Pearson underwent 42 procedures to have blood removed from his body, a process he described as traumatic due to a pre-existing phobia of needles.

The error was uncovered in June 2025 when a nurse raised concerns during a routine appointment. Subsequent tests revealed he had neither condition. The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust has since admitted a breach of duty, acknowledging that with appropriate care, the 42 procedures between 2017 and 2025 would likely have been avoided.

Pearson, a father of two, said the misdiagnosis caused years of profound distress. He described lying awake at night terrified,...