Can I sue a doctor for neglect/medical malpractice if he didn't properly follow my disease?

[lamarr3]

I was diagnosed with Lupus Nephritis in Sept 07 when I just turned 19. I was told to follow up with the rheumatologist that saw me in the hospital. I did a biopsy and i was found to have stage 3 lupus nephritis so i started seeing a nephrologist. long story short, the rheumatologist didn't get along with the nephrologist so he told me to stop seeing him and convinced me that he could control my lupus and told me he had many patients with lupus. he slowly started tapering my prednisone and told me i was going into remission. then one month later he lost my blood tests and did not request em back from Labcorp and did not tell me till the next month. within that month i was not on my cellcept and i was on a very low dose of prednisone (10mg) at that point my disease was eating away at my kidneys. that month i went from stage 3 to 4. the next time i saw him he told me that i would have to do chemo. i went to get a second opinion from my nephrologist.

the nephorlogist requested my records from the rheumatologist and when my records were recieved the rheumatologist sent only a small part and only the last 6 months of blood tests. my nephrologist then brought to my attention that the rheumatologist the whole time was doing the wrong blood tests and not watching my disease as closely as he should have been.

so my question is.. can i sue the rheumatologist for not monitoring my disease and falsely assuring me that he had alot of experience with lupus, when in actuality he did not?

i have suffered so much because he slipped up. i had to do 6 months of chemo which caused me to withdraw from school and get in debt with student loans.. i cant work.. my disease got worse..and the high dose of prednisone caused me to gain over 70 lbs.

[gowan]

I was diagnosed with Lupus Nephritis in Sept 07 when I just turned 19. I was told to follow up with the rheumatologist that saw me in the hospital. I did a biopsy and i was found to have stage 3 lupus nephritis so i started seeing a nephrologist. long story short, the rheumatologist didn't get along with the nephrologist so he told me to stop seeing him and convinced me that he could control my lupus and told me he had many patients with lupus. he slowly started tapering my prednisone and told me i was going into remission. then one month later he lost my blood tests and did not request em back from Labcorp and did not tell me till the next month. within that month i was not on my cellcept and i was on a very low dose of prednisone (10mg) at that point my disease was eating away at my kidneys. that month i went from stage 3 to 4. the next time i saw him he told me that i would have to do chemo. i went to get a second opinion from my nephrologist.

the nephorlogist requested my records from the rheumatologist and when my records were recieved the rheumatologist sent only a small part and only the last 6 months of blood tests. my nephrologist then brought to my attention that the rheumatologist the whole time was doing the wrong blood tests and not watching my disease as closely as he should have been.

so my question is.. can i sue the rheumatologist for not monitoring my disease and falsely assuring me that he had alot of experience with lupus, when in actuality he did not?

i have suffered so much because he slipped up. i had to do 6 months of chemo which caused me to withdraw from school and get in debt with student loans.. i cant work.. my disease got worse..and the high dose of prednisone caused me to gain over 70 lbs.

This sounds like a terrible last few years. I had a malpractice case that I sued for last year and was compensated for my injuries. I used http://www.badproducts.com/ because they offered a free consultation online. They set me up with some lawyers in my area who did a great job. I don't know if they can help you, but that's been my experience. Hope everything turns out for you!

[alburt]

I would say that you have a very strong argument that might hold up in court. One of the only faults that I can see though is that you chose not to go to the nephorologist. But if he strongly urged you *and* assured you that you would be taken care of then I would say you have nothing to worry about. One of the first things I'd do is start talking to people about a law firm that can help you out. I know you can't pay a lawyer now, but no lawyer will let that stop them. If they think they can win the case then they will definitely pursue it. CAUTION: Do not go to court by yourself. You need a lawyer. Every major hospital has high powered lawyers working for them and you will lose without a law firm backing you. I'm sure you have a case that will at least interest a firm.

On a side note: I think it is awful what the Rheumatologist put you through. I hope you come out all right. Anyways, hope this helped!

Good luck!