WWYD if pediatrician prescribed wrong med multiple times?

amother

Bergamot

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 6:50 pm

marineparkmom wrote:

If it’s your pediatrician making this mistake I would suggest having a neurologist or psychologist be the doctor caring for this.

If it’s a neurologist or psychologist making this mistake I would switch practices

You're missing the point.

If you can't trust the dr to prescribe the correct drug and dosage that's a very big issue.

I'd ask a rav to confirm but I think I'd report them. (No idea to where but there must be some oversight)

And I'd switch practices. Both because I want to trust my dr, and because I don't want the dr to be mean to me or my kids once I get them in trouble.

↑ marineparkmom ↓

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 7:05 pm

I’m not sure how you can sue or report him

I’m not sure why you would want the pediatrician to diagnose or treat ADHD. While a pediatrician technically can diagnose and treat ADHD they really aren’t the experts in this area and there are specialist for this. Furthermore , when you call up and ask them to send a prescription each month they are doing you a favor. You are meant to go for an appointment discuss if the medication should be continued at that dose and then the doctor prescribes. The doctor is doing you a favor by doing this on the phone. Lastly, the mistake isn’t a real mistake. Yes it’s annoying. But the medication he prescribed is FDA approved to treat ADHD. Obviously it’s bad to switch medicines each month but again that’s part of why a specialist is meant to treat ADHD.

If you like the pediatrician for everything else so stay with him and start seeing a specialist for the ADHD , otherwise switch practices.

amother

Springgreen

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 9:27 pm

amother Bergamot wrote:

Not really.
I agree with marineparkmom, as she very well explained in above post.

amother

↑ OP

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 10:04 pm

marineparkmom wrote:

Wrong. Here's why:
I’m not sure why you would want the pediatrician to diagnose or treat ADHD. While a pediatrician technically can diagnose and treat ADHD they really aren’t the experts in this area and there are specialist for this.
Ds's school did not allow him back until he was medicated and there was a very long wait for specialist appointments. BH the pediatrician was able to help.

Furthermore , when you call up and ask them to send a prescription each month they are doing you a favor. You are meant to go for an appointment discuss if the medication should be continued at that dose and then the doctor prescribes. The doctor is doing you a favor by doing this on the phone.

We do go for med checks. Every month for the first 2 months, and then we switched to every 3 months. This is only his 3rd month on it, so it's been almost every month. Even when we are there, they prescribe the wrong medicine.

Lastly, the mistake isn’t a real mistake. Yes it’s annoying. But the medication he prescribed is FDA approved to treat ADHD. Obviously it’s bad to switch medicines each month but again that’s part of why a specialist is meant to treat ADHD.

Yes, it is a real mistake. Ds tried Adderall first and he went totally crazy on it. That's why we switched to Ritalin, which works wonders for him. Prescribing a medicine that we already know makes a kid nuts instead of a medicine we know works, when they are trying to prescribe the one that works, is called a mistake. Even if it's FDA approved to treat ADHD.

amother

Dahlia

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 10:33 pm

amother OP wrote:

I hope that you got a specialist appt scheduled in the interim.
It’s great your ped is kind of stepping in meanwhile- but it’s clearly not their domain.

Have they made these kind of errors whilst prescribing antibiotics or such?

amother

Maple

Sun, Jun 16 2024, 11:22 pm

You can't just switch ADHD meds!!!! They have different active ingredients. When you start a new one, it's usually done slowly and gradually. It's not ok you take Ritalin, we messed up and prescribed Adderall, so take it...

I wonder if there are mothers that don't notice it's the wrong thing... that's scary. I have a kid who reacts badly to Ritalin let's just say. I doubt I'm alone.

Not ok.

I'd make a stink in the office and give them one more chance. If they mess up, leave.

Cheiny

Mon, Jun 17 2024, 1:34 am

amother OP wrote:

My ds takes Ritalin (Methylphenidate), which is legally not allowed to be given with refills. Every month, I have to call the doctor for a refill. And every month, they prescribe wrong medicines every day for a week and a half or 2 weeks. We get multiple prescriptions for Adderall, Dexmethylphenidate and other meds before we finally get methylphenidate. Every day I call again and again and I tell them it's for Ritalin which is Methylphenidate, and every day they get it wrong again.

I was told I could probably sue them. Prescribing a wrong medicine even once is terrible, and we've had many many wrong meds. And we are not the only ones. My friend switched away from the practice for this reason. And last time I went to the pediatrician, there was a lady crying in the waiting room that she kept going to pick up meds for her son and it was always the wrong one.

I told them last month that if we get one more wrong prescription, we will switch practices. And lo and behold, this month they got it right on their very first try! Yay them! I feel like calling them and congratulating them on prescribing a medicine correctly.

But assuming we will have more wrong meds prescribed in the future, we will switch practices. Then should we sue them? There are at least 2 Jewish doctors in the group (not frum). You can't sue a Jew, and I can't imagine suing anyone anyway. What else is there to do? How can this be allowed to continue?

I’d suggest asking your Rov what to do about this, because their mistakes could cost lives! All he has to do is prescribe something to someone who’s severely allergic and it could have tragic results. Someone like this shouldn’t be practicing. One mistake is understandable, but numerous?!