#MedicalMalpractice #ThyroidIssues #WrongMedicationDose
Hey everyone, I recently had a scary experience where a doctor prescribed me the wrong dose of medication for my thyroid condition, leading me to end up in the ER 😰. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened:
– Had my thyroid removed 4 years ago and needed daily medication
– Ex-husband removed me from insurance, so sought low-cost care
– Doctor at the clinic lowered my dose from 137mg to 25mg 😬
– Couldn’t get prescription refilled, had to resort to online services
– Ended up with dangerously high TSH levels, causing severe symptoms 😵
– Had to go to the ER and now facing huge medical bills and lost wages
Now, the big question: Can I sue the doctor for these charges and loss of wages? 💰💼
In this kind of situation, it’s definitely worth seeking legal advice to understand your options. Here are a few possible solutions:
– Contact a medical malpractice lawyer to discuss your case
– Document all medical expenses, lost wages, and any other relevant information
– Consider filing a complaint with the medical board in your area
Remember, it’s essential to take action to protect your rights and seek compensation for any harm caused. Stay informed and advocate for your health and well-being! 💪🏥
Have you or someone you know experienced something similar? Share your thoughts and insights below! #HealthJustice #KnowYourRights
You had six months of symptoms that you never got seen for? Yes the doctor made an error in dosing, but I think you carry some responsibility for not seeking care in all that time
Even if the doctor were fully liable, the cost of an ER visit and a few days of missed work likely aren’t enough damages to be worth a case
I would expect this to be an uphill battle for you.
You don’t *really* know that your initial dose was incorrect. You know that you didn’t feel great after receiving it, but were not feeling badly enough to seek further treatment. You know that after taking the same dose for 6 months AND after letting your prescription lapse for several days you finally felt unwell enough to seek further treatment.
If you had followed up in the days/weeks after the initial dose didn’t work I could see you having a valid argument, but I fail to see how letting the problem go for six months makes it the original prescribing doctor’s fault.
>So i’m still missing work until I am strong enough to return.
Please go through FMLA (if you are eligible) to protect your job. Don’t trust your employer just because they seem nice.
Was the first provider an actual physician? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were an APRN.
Probably not. You don’t have a permanent disability and didn’t die. Ergo, you have no damages.
Your doctor may not have deviated ENOUGH from the standard of care to assure a verdict of malpractice, either.
You will be best served by filing a complaint against his license at the state medical board (which almost certainly will not discipline him, but there are other repercussions.)
I am acquainted with your disease and have a fairly good idea how much you suffered, and I am very sorry this happened to you.
From this we absolutely do not know if the dose prescribed to you was wrong.. just because many Lanny months later after various problems including you going without medication at all… they are now giving you a higher dose. That doesn’t mean the first dose was wrong. Also for something like this the dose is not just an automatic determination. It can vary depending on the person and that persons health at the moment. You needed to follow up .. the doctor had no idea what was going on with you and had no opportunity to adjust your dose
When it comes to lawsuit, lawyers that represent the doctor and/or clinic will look for anything to place blame on you. They may point out the fact that you didn’t ask questions about the medication, that you didn’t try to go to another clinic when there were no changes in your health, and that you went without medicine for a period of time.
This case is screaming for you to have a primary care physician, not bounce around to urgent cares.
You mentioned you applied to Medicaid (you said Medicare but Im thinking you mean Medicaid which has income requirements). follow up on your application- if not approved, consider getting a primary physician through a [federally qualified health center in your area (more cost effective and takes your income into account)](https://data.hrsa.gov/data/reports/datagrid?gridName=FQHCs)
Lastly when your dose is changed make sure you are getting a lab order from your physician for follow up labs and get those done at the recommended time frame.
Keeping track of how much meds you have left is critical. Some people prefer 90 day supplies and having auto-refills, but at some point, your remaining refills will be zero, so having a reminder system for yourself to ensure your labs and Dr visits are up to date (so that the Dr will agree to provide additional refills) is key.
Not a lawyer but I am a doctor who routinely treats hypothyroidism. If everything happened the way you said it did and your doctor decreased your synthroid to 25 mcg (which is the lowest possible dose and completely inappropriate for someone with a thyroidectomy) because your TSH was high, that is a really horrendous mistake. You are correct that your dose should have been increased, and you are lucky that you did not get even more sick than what you did (myxedema coma definitely a risk, like you said, and even death ultimately). If everything happened like you said, and you suffered harm as a result, that is absolutely malpractice. Honestly, in all the posts that I’ve come across regarding medical matters on this sub, this is the first time I have ever seen one that I thought actually sounds like malpractice has been committed. I have no idea about the legal side of things, so obviously you need to consult with a medical malpractice attorney. Again, words that I have never written in my life, but to me this just seems truly egregious. Glad you are getting back on track and hopefully will feel better soon.
I am a family doctor and there are so many things wrong with what happened to you, but also I don’t feel you have the best understanding of how to manage your thyroid.
Never, and I mean ever, should a Synthroid dose be changed by more than a little bit. To go from 137 to 25 mcg is… just wrong. It makes no sense that you should definitely bring a complaint against the person who changed that dose, but also I’m amazed the pharmacy didn’t catch this. It’s insane to me. You should also know this from now on. If your levels are to high, your dose might be changed by a bit, but never by more than 25 mcg, meaning you can go from 137 to 125, or maybe 112, but that’s about it.
Next – anytime you change your Synthroid dose, you need follow-up. You are basically regulating a hormone in your body and you need to keep track of it. Once you change the dose, the suggestion to to check your levels again after the drug has reached a steady state, or about 4-6 weeks. Then, if it’s normal, check again after 3 months and then if normal, check again yearly. Do you can’t just get a new dose and ignore the follow-up.
Also, given you have an issue with your thyroid, you need to know what hypo and hyper thyroidism should feel like. Don’t ignore those symptoms again in the future.
There are many practice issues that this clinic seems to have. They don’t have doctors covering other doctor’s labs, even if critical results. They don’t give bridging doses of medications for when you run out and are waiting for your labs – even your pharmacy should be able to do that – and they just seem to suck. So, I would just stop going there.
As for your legal question – you can certainly consult a lawyer, although this case might not be worth much because you don’t have huge losses. But please, pretty please, at least make a complaint to their regulatory body about the first person who saw you and changed your dose.
Good luck.
PS My understanding is that myxedema coma’s are almost unheard of. And I’ve had many patient’s with TSH’s over 88… not all of them even feel it.