Medical negligence - or not?

Clare1981

sheramber wrote: »

Did the GP prescribe it on instructions from the paediatrician ?

If so ask to see the letter sent to the GP to check what dosage was on the letter?

If the GP prescribed it himself then ask him why he prescribed the larger dose. He may have had a good reason for doing so.

If your daughter is now 'brewing an infection' it looks like she needed the larger dose?

No, her GP knows she needs to be on a preventative antibiotic but he changed it due to her becoming resistant to another and us not being able to see her paed for months. I can ask but I don't think there was a good reason, he worked it out by her weight but must have missed the bit about a maximum daily dose limit.

Yes she probably does need it sadly but the dosages should be stuck to surely? They must be there for a reason.

Clare1981

elsien wrote: »

Part of the pharmacist role is to flag up if the doctor has done something daft, so if the dosage was wrong/dangerous for your daughter's age I'd expect them to notice.

Yes I agree, someone should have noticed.

foxtrotoscar_2

Clare1981 wrote: »

Sadly she has built up a resistance to penicillin and two other antibiotics due to her being on them for so long. There is no infection present at present, she is 8 and has had almost 30 UTIs so the antibiotics are supposed to prevent the infections. The dosage would be the same for every child in this situation.

You clearly don't understand prophylaxes as a treatment with antibiotics...it's a best guess diagnosis based purely on previous real world experiences...sometimes it will be wrong unfortunately...doesn't mean there was negligence at all.


The antibiotics were?

unholyangel

There doesn't seem to be any damage done and the GP would need to be negligent to be liable. Making a mistake does not necessarily make you negligent - even the most attentive & careful of people make mistakes. Its whether a competent person would have made that mistake.

Nor are you negligent just because there is a body who would act differently. Its if it would be obvious to a reasonable person of similar skill level that it could cause the damage. So a trainee doctor (for example) isn't held to the same standard as a senior consultant.

I believe attitudes have changed in the medical profession regarding some drugs/medicines now. Ibuprofen & antibiotics are the 2 that come to mind first. They've changed the "limit" for ibuprofen a few times - most recently (that I'm aware of) it fell from 8x200mg to 6x200mg. Antibiotics used to be handed out like candy also but then there was the resistance revelation. Is it possible the dosage was different 13 months ago?

boo_star

unholyangel wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any damage done and the GP would need to be negligent to be liable. Making a mistake does not necessarily make you negligent - even the most attentive & careful of people make mistakes. Its whether a competent person would have made that mistake.

Nor are you negligent just because there is a body who would act differently. Its if it would be obvious to a reasonable person of similar skill level that it could cause the damage. So a trainee doctor (for example) isn't held to the same standard as a senior consultant.

I believe attitudes have changed in the medical profession regarding some drugs/medicines now. Ibuprofen & antibiotics are the 2 that come to mind first. They've changed the "limit" for ibuprofen a few times - most recently (that I'm aware of) it fell from 8x200mg to 6x200mg. Antibiotics used to be handed out like candy also but then there was the resistance revelation. Is it possible the dosage was different 13 months ago?

Given that two medical professionals "missed" the overdosage and the daughter is now "brewing an infection" it would seem that the initial prescription was correct.

Doctors can go "off label" if they need to.

sheramber

Before you claim negligence you need to discuss with your GP about the dosage prescribed.

My daughter attended a paedIatrician for 10 years due to recurring UTI'S, She was only prescribed antibiotics when an infection occurred.

I also have problems and was on a year's prophylactic antibiotic at the correct dose . I ended up allergic to it.

The prophylactic dose was stated on the patient leaflet so I would have expected it to be on all of them.

I am now allergic to two antibiotics and resistant to a third through frequent but only when needed use. So things can develop with normal dosages.

I am now need to be prescribed a new one that my GP has to consult a bio chemist each time before he can give me it. This is to prevent over use and people developing resistance to it.

I was not over prescribed but still developed resistance/allergic reaction after a period of time.

Clare1981

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

You clearly don't understand prophylaxes as a treatment with antibiotics...it's a best guess diagnosis based purely on previous real world experiences...sometimes it will be wrong unfortunately...doesn't mean there was negligence at all.


The antibiotics were?

Of course I understand it, she has been on them for 3/4 years. This is the fourth one they've tried so Id imagine its not a case of b'est guess diagnosis' anymore or basing it on her previous infections its just a case of which ones are left to try.

The antibiotic is cefalexin.

Clare1981

sheramber wrote: »

Before you claim negligence you need to discuss with your GP about the dosage prescribed.

My daughter attended a paedIatrician for 10 years due to recurring UTI'S, She was only prescribed antibiotics when an infection occurred.

I also have problems and was on a year's prophylactic antibiotic at the correct dose . I ended up allergic to it.

The prophylactic dose was stated on the patient leaflet so I would have expected it to be on all of them.

I am now allergic to two antibiotics and resistant to a third through frequent but only when needed use. So things can develop with normal dosages.

I am now need to be prescribed a new one that my GP has to consult a bio chemist each time before he can give me it. This is to prevent over use and people developing resistance to it.

I was not over prescribed but still developed resistance/allergic reaction after a period of time.

Thank you for you helpful post and I am sorry to hear that your daughter and yourself have suffered too.

My daughter has developed resistance to three antibiotics already, I hate that she's on them, and has been for so long, so the fact she's had double what she needed for over a year just annoys and upsets me.

Clare1981

unholyangel wrote: »

I believe attitudes have changed in the medical profession regarding some drugs/medicines now. Ibuprofen & antibiotics are the 2 that come to mind first. They've changed the "limit" for ibuprofen a few times - most recently (that I'm aware of) it fell from 8x200mg to 6x200mg. Antibiotics used to be handed out like candy also but then there was the resistance revelation. Is it possible the dosage was different 13 months ago?

No, definitely not. At her recent paediatrician appointment he checked the dose and we were told she was on too much and he reduced it.

I don't know much about medicines but I'm guessing this antibiotic will be less effective now if she has to use it for treatment for a UTI. Considering she is resistant to 3 other already makes this quite worrying.

Korkyb

Just to say that people don't develop resistance to antibiotics.


Its the bacteria causing the problem that develop the resistance.


Interesting BMJ article I read recently here: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/3/e026735