I am so furious and sad!!! Any advice?

[Guest guest]

The nutshell question I want to ask is: If a child is taken off his

antibiotic when he is still sick with Lyme and co-infections, does the

Lyme have an opportunity to spread? Here's the background story. And I

would so appreciate any advice on this. Particularly if you understand

how Lyme spreads. Thanks...

My 4 year old, Lev, has been on Biaxin (Clarithromycin, 1ml 2x/day)

for five months (been sick with Lev for 2.5 years and on meds the

entire time but for the first few months). I just discovered that his

pharmacist made a HUGE mistake. His prescription was accurate. It says

to take the meds for 30 days. But the pharmacist was supposed to be

giving us two bottles of medicine and the first we take for 14 days

and the second we mix only then and take for an additional14 days.

Instead we have been given only one bottle each month for 5 months

which means that for the first two weeks of each month, Lev would get

his medicine and then for two weeks the disease was allowed to spread

unchecked (or at least that is my understanding, but I'm still hoping

that I am wrong!). Lev has been deteriorating and we could not figure

out why. Loss of all speech was Lev's first symptom and he is in

speech therapy every day. Now, once again, when he talks we barely

understand him (neither do his teachers, speech therapist etc). He has

been crankier, clingy, aggressive and irritable. Cries at the least

little thing.

Of course I will call my docs (N. CA doc and CT doc) tomorrow, but I'm

so worried since I’ve asked them many times before if stopping meds

allows the disease to spread and the answer has always been yes (I ask

because if not then I would “try” to take the kids off medication more

often, but since " yes " I can’t take that chance too often).

So back to my questions: 1) Is it possible his not getting medication

for 2 of every 4 weeks for five months has NOT harmed him (seems hard

to believe given his deterioration)? And, 2) If it HAS harmed him,

would you take any legal action against the pharmacist. Already my

expenses have gone up due to this mistake. I need to fly the 4 of us

to CT to see that doc this month (at his request), each therapy

session is a fortune, etc, etc. And this is to say nothing of the fact

that this mistake may mean that he has to stay on medication even

longer, with all of the associated problems of that, etc. And a

zillion other awful consequences of being sick longer. It's so easy to

think litigiously. And I don't want to be like that. And I know that

the pharmacist is human and he did not do it on purpose, but, rather,

made a mistake. On the other, this mistake could potentially be quite

costly in so so many ways if indeed the absence of medication has

allowed the disease to worsen. We have to bear the burden of his

mistake. But do we also need to shoulder the added costs due to his

mistake?

Feel free to email me at home or post on line.

Thank you so much,

Beth

beth@...

[Guest guest]

I am so sorry the mistake wasn't found sooner. Certainly if he didn't have the

meds he was supposed to have the illness had the opportunity to progress.

Hopefully when he is put back on the meds the way he's supposed to be, he'll

get

better quickly.

I would consult a lawyer, if it's not going to cost a fortune, to see if he

thinks you would have a good chance of winning a suit. Five months is a long

time for such a young child. The damage to their immune system can make it much

harder for them to recover.

My daughter got Lyme from me in utero but wasn't diagnosed until she was 12. The

docs said we almost didn't get her there in time. If we had waited much longer

her immune system would have been too compromised for her to get better. But she

did get well. She got worse before she got better, but she did recover. Thank

God you got your child help.

Try to remember to take a breath and that believe it or not it could be worse.

You realized the problem and now can get him the treatment he needs. He's only

missed some of his meds for 5 months. It stinks but you caught it and now you

can get him on the right treatment. If you have a good doc he's going to get

better.

All my best to you.

Annie

________________________________

From: Beth Freishtat <beth@...>

CaliforniaLyme ;

Sent: Sun, January 9, 2011 7:08:09 PM

Subject: [ ] I am so furious and sad!!! Any advice?

The nutshell question I want to ask is: If a child is taken off his 

antibiotic when he is still sick with Lyme and co-infections, does the 

Lyme have an opportunity to spread? Here's the background story. And I 

would so appreciate any advice on this. Particularly if you understand 

how Lyme spreads. Thanks...

My 4 year old, Lev, has been on Biaxin (Clarithromycin, 1ml 2x/day) 

for five months (been sick with Lev for 2.5 years and on meds the 

entire time but for the first few months). I just discovered that his 

pharmacist made a HUGE mistake. His prescription was accurate. It says 

to take the meds for 30 days. But the pharmacist was supposed to be 

giving us two bottles of medicine and the first we take for 14 days 

and the second we mix only then and take for an additional14 days. 

Instead we have been given only one bottle each month for 5 months 

which means that for the first two weeks of each month, Lev would get 

his medicine and then for two weeks the disease was allowed to spread 

unchecked (or at least that is my understanding, but I'm still hoping 

that I am wrong!). Lev has been deteriorating and we could not figure 

out why. Loss of all speech was Lev's first symptom and he is in 

speech therapy every day. Now, once again, when he talks we barely 

understand him (neither do his teachers, speech therapist etc). He has 

been crankier, clingy, aggressive and irritable. Cries at the least 

little thing.

Of course I will call my docs (N. CA doc and CT doc) tomorrow, but I'm 

so worried since I’ve asked them many times before if stopping meds 

allows the disease to spread and the answer has always been yes (I ask 

because if not then I would “try†to take the kids off medication more 

often, but since " yes " I can’t take that chance too often).

So back to my questions: 1) Is it possible his not getting medication 

for 2 of every 4 weeks for five months has NOT harmed him  (seems hard 

to believe given his deterioration)? And, 2) If it HAS harmed him, 

would you take any legal action against the pharmacist. Already my 

expenses have gone up due to this mistake. I need to fly the 4 of us 

to CT to see that doc this month (at his request), each therapy 

session is a fortune, etc, etc. And this is to say nothing of the fact 

that this mistake may mean that he has to stay on medication even 

longer, with all of the associated problems of that, etc. And a 

zillion other awful consequences of being sick longer. It's so easy to 

think litigiously. And I don't want to be like that. And I know that 

the pharmacist is human and he did not do it on purpose, but, rather, 

made a mistake. On the other, this mistake could potentially be quite 

costly in so so many ways if indeed the absence of medication has 

allowed the disease to worsen. We have to bear the burden of his 

mistake. But do we also need to shoulder the added costs due to his 

mistake?

Feel free to email me at home or post on line.

Thank you so much,

Beth

beth@...