A 13-year-old girl died from a burst appendix after a doctor twice misdiagnosed her with gastroenteritis, an inquest has heard. On the second occasion Portsmouth doctor Geoffrey Barron also told Zoe Weeks she had "a mystery illness suffered by people in Afghanistan".
A narrative verdict, saying the medical treatment Zoe received did nothing to prevent her death, was recorded.
Dr Barron is no longer practising due to depression related to the case.
 |  He personally feels devastated about what happened and does feel a personal sense of responsibility  |
Zoe, of Meriden Street, Southsea, fell ill on Wednesday 8 May, 2002, and was taken by her mother Kara Munt, to the Somers Town Health Centre the following Tuesday. She was suffering diarrhoea and stomach pains.
Dr Barron, who had been at the practice since 1979, prescribed tablets to stop the diarrhoea, and told her to come back at the end of the week if she had not recovered.
When she came back on Friday he replaced the diarrhoea tablets with pills to stop stomach cramps.
'Wrong conclusion'
Ms Munt told the inquest in Portsmouth: "He said to Zoe, `You have the mystery illness which they have over in Afghanistan'."
By Sunday, 19 May, Zoe started to become delirious and violently sick and her mother called for an ambulance.
She was unconscious by the time paramedics arrived and despite attempts to resuscitate her she was pronounced dead 40 minutes later.
Coroner David Horsley said: "We cannot expect a GP to be an omniscient superman but at the end of the day, despite two examinations, the diagnosis and treatment was not correct."
Independent medical adviser Dr Dennis Cox told the inquest that Zoe had only displayed some of the symptoms of appendicitis when examined by Dr Barron.
He said a GP would only see a patient in her condition once every five years.
"It is very regrettable indeed that his clinical judgment was wrong, however I believe he did what was reasonably expected of him but sadly that he came to the wrong conclusion," he said.
Dr Barron's solicitor George Thomas said the GP could not attend the hearing because he was suffering from depression caused by a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
He added that Dr Barron was no longer practising as a GP after allowing his registration with the General Medical Council to lapse.
Mr Thomas said: "He personally feels devastated about what happened and does feel a personal sense of responsibility for what happened.
"He is very, very sorry for what happened."
A file had previously been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, but they decided not to proceed with any criminal prosecution.
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