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

I had major neuro surgery. The operating consultant forgot to put an essential piece of kit back in which resulted in 3 further suergies to correct his fuck up. That's medical negligence.

You are given medication and advised to read the side effects. Assuming you did and they occured then that's poor luck but not negligence.

Hi 'Eryi1981' - people make informed choices about chemo and some choose not to go that route. Did you not know that? lol..

Also, you have to be 18 to be on Mumsnet, no? Not 12.. hehe..

Jem :)

Thanks 'another gnu'.

Jem :)

Do you mean to be so rude and patronising?

Hi cjt110 - yes, that IS negligence. And I'll be the first to say what I experienced was nowhere near the level of what you experienced.

Jem :)

If you want to chuck £1000s at a solicitor, feel free. But you will not win when it was listed as a known side effect.

Have you reported this to the MHRA? If you don't do that, no court will take you seriously on this to begin with.

Lots of people have bad side effects to different drugs.
You were unlucky. You can't sue, you don't have a chance.

Thanks
Pickwick

No £1000's will be going to a solicitor, that's for sure.

Jem :)

I think the problem will be that you accepted the risk

I was once given meds for an urgent problem and only after getting the pills went online to find it had a black box warning in the US. This was for a condition I was not prepared to risk so I went back to the GP and said, look, I can't take this, what are my options?

I didn't argue that GP had failed in their duty. It was listed a possible side effect here but black box in the US. I always assume the risk of side effects exists, the tire they out the list in the leaflet...!

I got gallbladder disease within 1 month of having my first child. No previous history. Should i sue my husband for making me pregnant? Or the obstetrician for not warning me that I might get gallbladder disease? It must be the pregnancy’s fault because the timing is too much of a coincidence? I understand the need to blame someone - i had a hideous accident on my honeymoon that ruined my life for 3 years due to medical negligence, but i really don’t think you have a case to sue for a known side effect that was disclosed to you. It may not even be due to the pill but to coincidence, same as mine!

Hey no - you CAN'T BE CALLED 'PickwickthePlockingDodo' and then sign off 'Pickwick'.

There seem to be lots of helpful replies here. That said I struggle to see how the treatment you received fell short of the accepted standard, even if you feel every possible side effect should be explained in terms you understand before taking anything.

There was a well publicised case a while back of a small child developing toxic epidermolysis from ibuprofen that might be a good starting point for you to read up on.

Hi 'fluffyanimalsrule' - there's just.....no point putting fingers to keyboard ref should you sue your husband. I'm talking about a leaflet that did not disclose potential damage to major organs, required for life, in some cases.

thanks

Jem :)

Hi asdf12345' - yes and every other day in the courts, someone gets a suspended sentence for manslaughter and someone else gets 8 months for not paying council tax. These things are NEVER EVER equitable.. which is a horrible horrible shame really.

thanks

Jem :)

fluffy I've never thought about sueing my dh for getting me pregnant and the subsequent gallbladder removal. I'll have to have a think about what payment I want.....

But where if your proof that a) they knew that was a possible side effect and b) that was the cause?

As others have said have you actually reported the side effects you potentially suffered to the company?

It did tell you that it could lead to gallbladder problems. That was the side effect. What is it that you don't seem to understand about that. If you didn't understand what that meant you should have asked someone before taking the medication. As for damaging of other organs, this was a complication of the gallbladder problems. Most people who have gallstones etc get no other complications. The medication didn't cause this damage to your pancreas the undiagnosed gallbladder issues did.

Interesting that you're diligently replying to all posters on here except the doctors and lawyers who say you don't have a case.

Jem, as mentioned earlier, your first point of call is the MHRA.

OP, how did the suing for medical negligence in the USA about this same incident go back in 2016? I'm guessing not so well given that you're deciding to sue the GP and drug companies now?

Some right twaterry going on here isn't there

You would sue the pharmaceutical company, not the GP.

You may or may not have a case that there was a warning defect (see point 3 below):

1. Design defect: This claims the drug manufacturer designed the drug in a way that made it likely to cause injury even when manufactured properly. This is often hard to prove after a drug is FDA approved.

2. Manufacturing defect: You may claim a drug was designed properly yet the medication you received was manufactured incorrectly. The drug may have been contaminated or created to contain a dosage higher or lower than the label stated. 3. Warning defect: There may be evidence that the drug should have had an additional or stronger warning in relation to the injuries you experienced.

But the point is that it did reference gall bladder disease. Which there is lots of information about on the internet. And although you got a rare side effect, it’s not like you didn’t have the information available. Whilst i feel for you, as gallbladder stuff is really very nasty, it’s bad luck! The GP refusing to prescribe you painkillers i’d have more of an issue with.

I can be Jem, cos that's my actual name... unless... your parents were particularly cruel to you, in which case, I'll let you off.

Ha, ha you really are a Jem

Jesus, what part of YOU HAVE NO CASE don't you understand??

Thanks,
greyhound