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

Coincidences DO happen. You're the right age for gall bladder issues and for all I know have other risk factors.

But you're not asking if mners have had similar experiences, you're asking if you'd be unreasonable to sue the GP! And the RESOUNDING answer you've received (inc replies from Drs and lawyers) is YES!

"but it's a place for people to ask other mums whether they've experienced x, y or z." No it's not! Mnhq themselves would say all are welcome, male, female, parents or not or whatever to discuss various topics NOT just 'if they've experienced X y z.' Not exactly making yourself look terribly intelligent or thoughtful.

Millions of women take the pill with no serious side effects, some will and switch to other brands or stop taking. If this were genuinely causing loads of women to have the same issues as you it would be withdrawn - as much to cover the manufacturers arse as anything!

"Hi 'MarthaArthur' - I AM involved in that area (gynae improvement), in a minor activist role" ah so you have an AGENDA talk about drip feed!!!

Hi 'Bombardier' - regarding taking oxycodone for 3 surgeries, is nothing t do with the side effects listed on the Cerelle leaflet. It would be piss easy for anyone - even self rep - to make that point.

thanks

Jem :)

Myissueis the lack of explicit info in the side effects listing
Then the GP is entirely blameless. You'll be suing the drug company over their alleged inaccurate PIL.
You do know they have in-house lawyers, expert at dealing with claims like this?

I wish I had as much money as you!

OP, what’s your username again?

Thanks

HateSummer

Hi 'Graphista' - no. No agenda. I was told to get involved in the area of better gynae treatment. And I do. But only in an online bloody group. I'm not out there with my skull mask on, climbing Big Ben or anything, lol..

thanks

Jem :)

jemimavintage I don't see an arguable claim for medical negligence here. Even if you could get over the fact that the side effects are listed and therefore you made an informed choice, there are all kinds of issues with causation in the fact pattern you have described.

As regards the GP's actions in prescribing, have a look into the Bolam principle. A doctor acting in accordance with the practice of a responsible body of practitioners is not negligent, even if another doctor might have taken a different approach.

I also think there is a strong public policy argument against establishing any principle that a GP could be liable for prescribing an approved medication within the context of side effects made known to the patient in the instructions that come with the medicine. For this reason, absent any other relevant factors, I cannot see any court making a finding that the GP in such a scenario was negligent.

I am a lawyer.

Hi 'gladitsallover' - yes, you're correct. It would be the pharma company. It's been helpful posting because there have been some useful responses. Ref the GP, I keep a bloody good eye on my GP these days. As a young 'un, I've received extremely subpar, stupid, reckless and quite frankly...idiotic treatment from some GPs. some GPs. Not all.

thanks

Jem :)

Hi 'Bombardier' - regarding taking oxycodone for 3 surgeries, is nothing t do with the side effects listed on the Cerelle leaflet. It would be piss easy for anyone - even self rep - to make that point.

It is entirely relevant. You can't argue "I wouldn't have taken x drug because of..." at the same time as taking another drug with similar potential side effects.

The defence team would not look at the incident in isolation, they'll look at your physical and mental health and your interactions with clinicians.

You don't even know the legal test for negligence. How do you ever think you'll "self rep"?

Op
Have you named the correct drug? I have just checked the SPC and the Patient info leaflet for Cerelle and could not find any mention of Gall Bladder at all on either document, even as a rare side effect. These are the official MHRA documents and PIL was updated in Jan 2018, SPC in March. It is therefore difficult to claim negligence by the GP.
You need to complete a yellow card for the MHRA to report your gall bladder issue.

Hi '1Wanda1' - yes, it would be pharma more than the GP, but even so - and this is also a philosophical question - GPs should and WILL....be forced to accept that patients are entitled to a certain level of respect and information.

This (OP) is a mere question. This is not me asking whether I should eat 20 babies for tea or not.

thanks

Jem :)

why do you want 20 babies for tea?! I'm so confused...

Hi 'Bombadier' - I guess, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled to mine. I have never been harmed by oxycodone. I have no mental health issues. I was harmed by Cerelle. Simple as that. I can prove it to a degree but not 100%. My situation was/is NOWHERE NEAR the level that some people find themselves in. But it's unacceptable to me that the leaflet isn't more explicit.

thanks

Jem :)

How many of the risk factors do you fit? They call them the 5F's? I reckon at least 3/4 out of 5:

Fat: BMI>30: No, you say you're 8 stone.
Female: Yes
Fair: Caucasian people are more likely to have cholecystitis: You haven't stated your ethnicity.
Fertile: At least one child: You mentioned you had a C-section
Forty: Age>40: you say you're now in your 50s and it started over 3 years ago.

So you are in the profile for cholecystitis anyway, regardless of the mini pill.

Hi 'Daisymay' -thanks, I haven't heard of yellow card. I will do that and I will check the leaflet info.

thanks

Jem :)

Hi 'Lougle' - I went over this with the UK's top HPB surgeon who does 300 sphincterotomies per year, in London. He was adamant that the hormones in the pill sparked the GB/liver/CBD/pancreas issues.

thanks

Jem :)

Maybe eating all those babies for your tea had something to do with your gall bladder issues?

I guess, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled to mine.

But mine is a legally qualified one, and yours is that of a non qualified person with a history of fixating on things.

If you need help working through what happened to you then get a good therapist.

Hi 'AmazingGrace16' - lol... perhaps. Maybe I should just stick to the usual 10.

You've all been very good fun/amusing. I have had some really useful (honestly) responses. So thank you all for that.

Jem :)

Hi 'Bombardier' - you simply cannot be any type of expert in pancreatitis love. You need to update your skills.

thanks

Jem :)

Several people on here are clearly HCPs. I think its time to stop answering. Cant argue with stupid! (Or wilfully ignorant for that matter!)

Hi 'OhDearMavis' - who's arguing? People are giving their opinion. That's allowed. It's all completely fine. Don't sweat it. I've had some useful comments. And that's what Mumsnet is about, is it not? Or would you like to argue about that also?

thanks

Jem :)