Has anyone ever sued a GP for side effects of a medication?

[jemimavintage]

Hello lovely group - Very quickly...

I had painful periods. I was refused a stronger painkiller to help with them. I'm now 50. This all kicked off approx. 3 years ago. Before then NO HISTORY of painful periods (even tho they've been getting more and more painful since a c-section in 1995), no history of pain meds, no history of ANY type of illness... Normal weight, 8 stone.

GP gives me Cerelle... within a month I am very very poorly... within 3 months I've had an emergency admission into a hospital in USA and had 3 procedures: gallbladder removal (no stones, no sludge, only mega irritation, cholecystitis), sphinctertomoy (because the sphincter had closed shut and blown my common bile duct out to several size that it should be, right up into my liver actually!!, and some stenting of that duct to help keep it open. The cost was $76,000. Health insurance paid it.

I have zero doubt that the WHOLE ISSUE, was caused by Cerelle. 'Gallbladder' disease is listed as a side effect. It also did NOTHING to stop my period pain, in fact, it gave me cramps and bleeding every single day.

I feel pretty mad to have gone through all of that. I was so scared. 6 days in hospital feeling very very poorly. Some outpatient appointments, a private MRCP scan in Harley St when I got back for £3,000 of my own money because I was still in pain and was worried that the hospital in USA (small border town) had screwed up. Well they had. I HAD acute pancreatitis from the gallbladder/sphincter issue....and no-one there told me. That lead to me having pancreatitis for 12 months and not realising it. My UK GP - the same practice - dismissed the Harley St conclusion that I had acute pancreatitis and tried to not give me any pain relief, saying it wasn't possible that I had it because my GB had now come out.

The Cerelle had a 'side effects' sheet in the box. One never thinks that one will GET the side effects. And I actually believed....that the 'pill' would stop my periods and give me some much needed relief.

On to today, I have adenomyosis and possibly endometriosis.. This has nothing to do with why I'm interested in whether I can DO anything about having suffered those side effects as a result of taking Cerelle tho..

I mean, can we bring a case for side effects from a med that the GP probably thought would.........help the situation??!!? It was a direct bunch of CRAP I got from that medication..

thanks group,

Jem x

Nope.

You were prescribed it for a good reason. You were provided with a list of side-effects. You developed some of those side effects. And you want to sue the GP?

Nope. F**k off! So doctors (I’m one) are to be sued if side-effects occur? So if someone has nausea from an antibiotic, or feels light-headed from an inhaler, or gets heartburn after taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach? We’d never prescribe anyone anything then, out of fear of spurious lawsuits. Being a doctor is hard enough already.

Nope. Genuinely sorry for the horrible time you’ve had. But no grounds to take it out on a GP financially and professionally just to fulfill petty misdirected revenge.

Hi 'Eryi1981' - well, I am a belligerent person so a pharma company wouldn't be scaring me. That's for sure. I DO think listing organ damage is important, for a leaflet, especially for such a commonly used medication.

There have been other issues with the GP that do all stem from this one particular visit, and fan out from that, so, no, not at all ridiculous to hold these people to account. And given the chance, I will be holding them to account. Sure, they prescribe in 'good faith' that the med will work in a reasonable manner for the issue it's prescribed for but there's a back story leading up to....which med.....why.....how.....when....and so on, that's more in depth.

I don't think anyone is silly for holding GP's or pharma to account. Nope. No way.

thanks

Jem :)

My medications also list “death” as a side effect. I take it anyway. It’s my risk not the gps.

If there was even a remote possibility of suing the manufacturer (obvs there isn't - if there was there'd be no medication available to anyone ever, except perhaps homeopathic woo stuff), do you not think your insurance company would be attempting it?

• missed out a "not" in both paragraphs!

The side effects given in a leaflet are not always conditions that have been directly linked to the drug. They are more a case of "whilst taking the drug, patient x experienced these symptoms", unless there is a particular issue any link would not be investigated further.

I'm sorry that you have been so unwell, but as a lawyer specialising in personal injury, I can confirm that you wouldn't be successful with bringing a claim against the drug company, or your GP. Purely from a causation point of view alone, your case would be unsuccessful. The company or GP are not obligated to go into large amounts of specific detail about the possible side effect; merely listing it is legally sufficient

Ds has an asthma medication that lists asthma attacks as a side effect so i wonder if I should be suing them for him having an asthma attack?

I do think we'll see more and more patients holding GPs and pharma to account for lack of candour, so I don't think it's unreasonable to pose the question of whether anyone on mumsnet - or anywhere else - has had similar experiences. Clearly there IS case law. Admittedly, thresholds are high - however, in my case, there are other factors not listed due to...this being a space and time limited exercise.

thanks

Jem :)

I was healthy for 26 years, zero gastro problems. Got pregnant, got gallbladder disease, got pancreatitis. I'm sure many people can say similar things about many illnesses.
The gallbladder disease was a side effect of the medication, the other things were complications from the gallbladder disease. They are rare complications so maybe you are the first person to have had all these complications after taking the medication therefore it wouldn't be on the leaflet. Have you filled out the form about side effects (can't remember it's name). You need to inform someone that you experienced this side effect but I don't think anyone has done anything wrong.
Have you read the side effects of paracetamol? You take a risk every time you take any kind of drug.

I will be holding them to account

There's nothing to hold them to account for. You could throw thousands at this and the only loss experienced will be by you.

Have you tried discussing what happened with your GP (or the practice manager) in a calm and rational tone?

I spoke to a lawyer about a related matter and he did seem to think there were grounds for a case.

Jem :)

I'm throwing - no - thousands at this.. Bloody hell, don't be daft..

Jem :)

Some lawyers will persue anything if you pay them enough...

Clearly there IS case law.

There is, and it is not in your favour. Have you even looked at the test for negligence posted above?

You're only going to embarrass yourself if you continue like this.

Sounds like you’ve made your mind up. So why ask for other opinions?

Have fun in court!

Hi 'dobbythesockelf' - that's rough. Thanks for the advice.

Jem :)

I spoke to a lawyer about a related matter and he did seem to think there were grounds for a case

I'll bet he really loves you!

How do you think you are going to prove that the medication caused all these complications? Has a Dr said that this is the case? Do you expect a GP to go into detail about all possible side effects of all medications when prescribing them? What is it that you think the GP did wrong? You were prescribed a medication that is often given to help with gynae problems, like all medications there are risks which are clearly stated in the info leaflets. You were unlucky and experienced a side effect. Your GP had no way of knowing this. When I was a child I was given penicillin for an infection, turns out I'm allergic to penicillin. No one she's my GP cause he couldn't have possibly known.

I think people on MN are getting cross because you are essentially doing the whole 'AIBU? MN : Yes You: No I'm not' charade!
Anyway, from the info you've given us there's no legal basis to sue your GP or the pharma company as neither of them have breached a duty of care - the possible side effects were listed. It is your job to ensure you understand everything that could happen. Unfortunately you have had rare side effects and it has affected you more than it might someone else, it is frustrating I'm sure and I'm sorry you've had to go through that, but legally it is not their fault. There is precedent yes, there have been cases where medical providers and pharma companies have been sued in the past. If there is extra information which changes the circumstances then as you say, there could be a case, and if a lawyer does have the info that we don't that will be why they have stated grounds for a case. We can only give you answers based on the info you provide.

Hi 'paddyfodder' - why are you on here even answering any questions? Or why would anyone pose any question when they can - look it up on the internet? Just a punt to see if anyone has had any similar experience. That's......Mumsnet, I suppose. I think you might need to tell them that they're running an operation that's....not really required, according to you.. :D

thanks

Jem :)

All this from taking one month of the mini pill?

jem

You need to hope you never need chemotherapy (largely because it would mean you have cancer), because if you see the list of side effects of some of those drugs you'd be terrified!!!

Death from neutropenic sepsis, very real risk of deafness, massively increased chance of second primary tumour etc.

But they save lives, so on balance, pharmaceutical companies, doctors and patients accept those risks.

If you didn't like the GPs attitude, well that's different, but boo boo, get a grip, we all have encounters, as patients and as professionals that we don't particularly enjoy, and if you attitude here is anything to go by I can imagine the GPs face when he sees your name next on his appointment schedule.

In the UK, you would have to prove that the GP did not meet the standards of a responsible body of medical opinion. If it is normal practice for GPs to prescribe Cerelle for this purpose, it doesn't look as if you would have any chance of meeting this test.

You might have an argument that he failed to warn you of the possible side effects. But you would then have to show that, if he had, you would have refused to take the medication. Can you really claim that you would?

So far as pharmaceutical company is concerned, I assume this drug has passed all certification requirements in the UK and US, so it would be difficult to say that they were negligent. They would certainly be protected by their warning about gall bladder problems.

Hi 'MummytoCSJH' - never hurts to ask the good people of Mumsnet whether there are any like-wise experiences. That's what Mumsnet is? yes? no?

Ack, I don't worry about sadsack responses... lols... They make me laugh..

Jem :)

Hi 'pestmcpestface' - yes. And that's EXACTLY my point.

Jem :)