Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News...
Q. I have hypothyroidism and take synthroid. In November I
refilled my Rx and have unknowingly been taking the wrong dose for 8 months. I have been back to my doc 3 times since Nov. complaining of hair loss, weight gain (40lbs!)fatigue, memory loss, facial swelling. He did not check my TSH level,instead put me on Prozac. Finally yesterday he had my TSH level done, it was 64.25 (norm 5.4) I am supposed to be on 0.20mg of synthroid but the pharmacist gave me 0.025mg. When confronted with this he said my Dr. wrote the Rx wrong and they do not make a dose of 0.20mg he said he called and my doc said to give me the 0.025 dose. My doc denies this because this is a significant difference in dosage. All I know is I feel terrible, have missed alot of work, lost alot of hair and have alot of weight to lose just because someone gave me the wrong dose of medicine! The long term effects could be liver damage but is not known yet. Do I need a lawyer?
A. Not yet, but maybe down the road. Right now, we're at the common-sense, "let's look into this" stage. Find out from the doctor exactly what he prescribed. Make sure you get all of the deatils about name of drug, size of dose, and so on. Then, get one of your prescription bottles and see what's written on it. Someone made a mistake; it should be correctable. (Obviously, there's a huge difference between .20 and .025 -- you've got to find out what the doctor originally prescribed as the actual dosage for the prescription -- and what should have been prescribed -- to determine where the mistake was.)
You might also consider seeking a second medical opinion, just to confirm what's going on, and what options you have. A full check up, and explanation from an independent second doctor might help clear things up in your mind and put you a little more at ease.
Either way, once you've figured out who was actually in the wrong (if anyone was), you've got to plan your next step. Figure out if there's some permanent damage or loss as a result of the mistake. For instance, if the pharmacy was at fault, and you're out of pocket several thousand dollars for the "wrong" prescription, ask them to reimburse you, or credit you. On the other hand, if there is no permanent damage or loss to you, you might consider asking for an apology for the error, and then letting by-gones be by-gones.
If it turns out that you can't reach a satisfactory resolution on your own, then you can consider bringing in a lawyer. You can get a referral from your local bar
association, or from the Martindale-Hubbel directory.
Good luck.
David Kendall
refilled my Rx and have unknowingly been taking the wrong dose for 8 months. I have been back to my doc 3 times since Nov. complaining of hair loss, weight gain (40lbs!)fatigue, memory loss, facial swelling. He did not check my TSH level,instead put me on Prozac. Finally yesterday he had my TSH level done, it was 64.25 (norm 5.4) I am supposed to be on 0.20mg of synthroid but the pharmacist gave me 0.025mg. When confronted with this he said my Dr. wrote the Rx wrong and they do not make a dose of 0.20mg he said he called and my doc said to give me the 0.025 dose. My doc denies this because this is a significant difference in dosage. All I know is I feel terrible, have missed alot of work, lost alot of hair and have alot of weight to lose just because someone gave me the wrong dose of medicine! The long term effects could be liver damage but is not known yet. Do I need a lawyer?
A. Not yet, but maybe down the road. Right now, we're at the common-sense, "let's look into this" stage. Find out from the doctor exactly what he prescribed. Make sure you get all of the deatils about name of drug, size of dose, and so on. Then, get one of your prescription bottles and see what's written on it. Someone made a mistake; it should be correctable. (Obviously, there's a huge difference between .20 and .025 -- you've got to find out what the doctor originally prescribed as the actual dosage for the prescription -- and what should have been prescribed -- to determine where the mistake was.)
You might also consider seeking a second medical opinion, just to confirm what's going on, and what options you have. A full check up, and explanation from an independent second doctor might help clear things up in your mind and put you a little more at ease.
Either way, once you've figured out who was actually in the wrong (if anyone was), you've got to plan your next step. Figure out if there's some permanent damage or loss as a result of the mistake. For instance, if the pharmacy was at fault, and you're out of pocket several thousand dollars for the "wrong" prescription, ask them to reimburse you, or credit you. On the other hand, if there is no permanent damage or loss to you, you might consider asking for an apology for the error, and then letting by-gones be by-gones.
If it turns out that you can't reach a satisfactory resolution on your own, then you can consider bringing in a lawyer. You can get a referral from your local bar
association, or from the Martindale-Hubbel directory.
Good luck.
David Kendall
Labels: doctor
posted by David Kendall at
5:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home