A father who was on the verge of losing his home and contemplating suicide after doctors misdiagnosed him with ME while overlooking a treatable genetic condition for six years, says the NHS has treated him with “contempt”.
Peter King, 60, from Essex, found out in late 2018 he had haemochromatosis, often known as iron overload, a heritable disorder affecting as many as one in 200 people in the UK.
It causes iron to build up to toxic levels in the blood, potentially damaging the liver and joints, and can lead to cancers and liver disease.
Fatigue is one of the earliest signs, but when the black cab driver saw his GP in 2012 after he began falling asleep at the the wheel, he was sent away with a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis – chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).