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Who do I sue or do I?

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Jayco

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Drug, Glucophage, I have been taking for years.  One side effect of it is diarrhea which explains the diarrhea I have had for years.  I always thought it was the coffee.  Diarrhea will lower magnesium.  In October I had two seizers and was taken to critical care for 3 days and the recovery ward for another 3 days.  Doctors at that hospital said the seizers were caused by the low magnesium of .2.  Needs to be 1.6 or higher.  They said had I been alone I would have died.  A doctor at my heart hospital said that Glucophage caused the low magnesium for a while.  Now she is saying "may".  The hospitals are the ones who prescribed Glucophage.

Who do I sue or do I?  I am in Thailand.  This occurred in Thailand, so should I get a Thai attorney?  Or, should I get a US attorney?

By the way.  My hospital took me off Glucophage and put me on a new pill.  The next day the diarrhea stopped and I have not had one case of diarrhea since.  Right now I am having to take magnesium supplements not sure for how long.

 

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I am not an attorney...but I would think you would need to check with a Thai attorney to see if you have a case. I don't know if you can even sue doctors/hospitals in Thailand. Each country have their own rules.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

I don't think you have a strong case if they prescribe you meds that gave you diarrhea & may have caused your seizures    just my opinion

Ms Berta will know if you have a strong enough case or not

maybe she will see your post.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Jayco you need to apply the Caluza Triangle. In other words: a diagnosed illness or injury currently, an event in the service , and then a medical opinion that supports a connection. If you no longer have diarrhea, you can't claim that. If you don't have some other residual effects from low magnesium  then you are between a rock and a hard place. Are you saying that low mag results in seizures? If so, you need an IMO supporting that. I am making the assumptions that you are under the VA heathcare, and have been current with annual check ups, and they have and continue to prescribe the meds for you. If you have a break and haven't seen your VA doc, I think they can deny because you were seeing someone else??? As to being in Thailand, if you are a resident, as Paul said, that is a whole different legal angle we would not know anything about.

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I too do not think you have a case here. I have to take calcium disodium EDTA to reduce and eliminate heavy metals from heavy metals toxicity on an empty stomach, wait two hours than eat my meal with a multivitamin since the body mechanics needs to be brought back up to normal levels. My vitamin Bs are low due to this which means I gotta take a B-100. (What B amount I don't use will simply exit the body since it's water soluble. So I simply break it in half to save money and use half, and still get my Bs)

 

 

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The issue of "whether or not" to sue is deeply personal, none of us went through what you went through so its hard for us to say.  

It sounds like you are alleging that the VA was negligent in prescribing glucophage and NOT monitoring your magnesium.  And that may well be the case.  If your treatment was exclusively at the VA, you may well have an 1151 claim.  

I checked "glucohage" online, and it did say that diarrhea was a side effect, and to tell your doctor about it.  

Did you inform your doctor of the diarrhea?  Was that documented?

You "may" have an 1151 claim, you "may" have issues with the drug company or the doctor(s).  

Now, if you "just had a bad 3 weeks" or so, with no further symptoms or related complications, then my advice is to drop it.  

However, if this low magnesium has adversely affected your health in the future, then you may consider going after them.  

My advice is to read the circular with your glucophage (metformin) and see what it says.  If the drug company is corrupt, and lying about side effects then you may want to go after them.  

If you told your doctor of the diarrhea, and he documented that, and did nothing, well your beef may be with your doctor.  

However, if you didnt tell your doc of the diarrhea, how would he know to treat you by adding magnesium?  Then its on you.  

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Sorry for taking so long to respond.  Between fatigue, doctor, and dental appointments it is hard to get everything done.

First, let me say I have never been treated by the VA.  I was diagnosed with heart disease and diabetes prior to moving to Thailand and medical insurance covered the costs.  But I did not learn about the VA program until I moved to Thailand.  In Thailand as of 2012 I treat under the foreign medical program.  I go to private hospitals, pay for the bills myself, and then apply for reimbursement, but only for heart disease and diabetes related items.  The private hospitals are the ones who prescribed Glucophage.  However, the VA according to them caused diabetes which required the treatment of diabetes.  Do they have any responsibility?

According to what I have read 1 in 3 diabetics that take Glucophage have a problem with magnesium.  Yet when I ask a doctor here why do you not monitor magnesium he says no one has a problem with it.  In my opinion 1 in 3 is enough to monitor everyone taking Glucophage and is a diabetic.   According to the doctors I would have died had no one been in the room when I had the seizures.  That to me is reason enough.  

I probably will not get anywhere with this.  Everyone wants to say why didn't you do this or that.  I'm not a doctor.  I depend on him to take care of me.  I know there are certain things I am responsible for, but there are certain things he should be doing.  Monitoring magnesium falls into his area of expertise in my opinion.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

 

 

 

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