NEWS: Daily Telegraph - 4/05/09 'Brain-damaged patient fights negligent doctor'

[hoptis]

Brain-damaged Bianca Lee Ehlefeldt fights negligent doctor
Article from: The Daily Telegraph
By Angela Kamper
May 04, 2009 12:00am

ONCE she was a model, a receptionist and a loving mother - now Bianca Lee Ehlefeldt lives in a group home for the disabled after suffering brain damage while trying to rebuild her life after drug addiction.

And although Ms Ehlefeldt, 32, won a $6 million law suit against the doctor who prescribed the home detox program that led to a devastating seizure, she now faces an uphill battle to collect the money.

The NSW Supreme Court was told the medical practitioner she sued, Dr Michael Charles Leigh Rowan-Kelly, has fled to the US - where he is believed to work at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility.

A recovering heroin addict taking Xanax and methadone, Ms Ehlefeldt was put on a home detox program by Dr Rowan-Kelly after visiting the Leichhardt Medical and Dental Centre, Short St, in 2002.

But the court heard he failed to advise about the risks that accompanied Xanax withdrawal, in particular the risk of seizures, and did not prescribe any anti-convulsants.

From the start of the detox program she was having a seizure a week.

Within three months Ms Ehlefeldt suffered hypoxic brain damage as a result of a seizure.

"If he felt he did the right thing then why did he jump on a plane and leave Sydney," Ms Ehlefeldt's mother, Moerangi Kennedy, said yesterday.

Ms Ehlefeldt, who has two children who are now being looked after by grandparents, was working as a receptionist for a major insurance company before her injury but now lives in a group home in Maroubra that provides 24-hour care for its residents.

She now has the mental capacity of a four year old, and impairments similar to dementia.

She does not react to hot or cold water and has lost most of her short term memory.

Solicitor Brian Dodd, acting for Ms Ehlefeldt, said he would register Friday's Supreme Court judgment by Justice Clifton Hoeben with US authorities, but finding Dr Rowan-Kelly had been "impossible".

It is understood Dr Rowan-Kelly was not insured at the time. He had no legal representation throughout the court case.

News.com.au

 

[Mr Blonde]

That's terrible. I hope that they do reclaim the money somehow, this doctor should lose his license. Didn't even advise her on the seizures that accompany benzodiazepine WD?

 

[Heisenberg]

Im not going to stand up for GPs and drug clinics, but they have to deal with a lot of shit. They get knives to their throat by junkies trying to steal scripts and serious doctor shoppers all the time. Maybe she should read the label before stuffing a bunch of pills down her mouth? I'm sure the label on the xanax read TAKE WHEN NEEDED, or take 2 x 2mg per DAY. And if she read the instructions on the box or leaflet it would say DO NOT STOP THIS MEDICATION WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR.

He probably saw a helpless junkie come in, and gave out the meds as quick as he could because it takes time to get on a subby program.

But i will say this, If i went ahead with every time a doctor nearly killed me (by not asking me my medications i was on a times) i would be a frigging billionaire if i survived.

 

[hyroller]

That is really disgusting conduct from a so-called 'professional'...I feel truly sorry for this woman and her ordeal

 

[Heisenberg]

I do too, but you know how much medical centres try to double to triple book appointments. They make each appointment 10 minutes where people can be in there for 30 minutes or longer. It stuffs around the staff, doctors, nurses and last but certainly not least the patient. Sometimes the owner of the medical centre isn't at the place for weeks but they make management enforce this rule. Most of the time they are linked to a pharmacy as well, which can be a chain chemist and the franchise owner just buys out the doctor surgery.

They never think about people that may actually be coming in for surgery also, like getting glass out of them or stitches taken out. By the end of a 10 hour day with no lunch break the doctors are probably struggling more than most of the patients coming in because they're scared they have swine flu or coming in for a cough or cold.

How do you know she didn't just say yeah yeah, when he started telling her about the medications, just wanted to get out.

I'm not trying to be a dick but you got to think about them even though yeah some of them are real Dr Deaths.

 

[fortehlulz]

There's a reason immunity from suit doesn't get given to medical practitioners (but is given to legal practitioners) and this is a prime example of it. If a lawyer fucks up, you can get the money back.

 

[footscrazy]

Maybe she should read the label before stuffing a bunch of pills down her mouth? I'm sure the label on the xanax read TAKE WHEN NEEDED, or take 2 x 2mg per DAY. And if she read the instructions on the box or leaflet it would say DO NOT STOP THIS MEDICATION WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR.

She did consult a doctor - him! This is nothing but negligence IMO. Sure doctors have a lot on their plate but he completely failed in his duty of care. People should be able to trust what their doctor tells them to do. This is what doctors are for - to give sound medical advice and knowledge, to a general public who may not understand these things and pays for someone who does.

 

[Heisenberg]

I don't think we can go off a news article or what a lawyer says.
It wasn't recorded, why do people not think that someone addicted to heroin would not down more xanax than they were told to before their next script???

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ But he should have given her proper care for getting off the xanax regardless of how she got on them in the first place. Any doctor should know that benzodiazepine and alcohol WD has the potential to be fatal due to seizures.

 

[footscrazy]

Heisenberg - I think I get what you mean - that maybe she lied to the doc about how much xanax she was taking so the doc didn't realise the risk...?

Even so, being a drug specialist he should be aware that patients may lie about how much they take - and he should have erred on the side of caution in a case like this, and definitely let her know what a benzo withdrawal can entail. It seems weird too that she was having a seizure a week - and it took 3 months until she became brain damaged - why wasn't this addressed in the 3 months prior to the seizure that caused her brain damage?!

 

[Heisenberg]

I will just say this. I have been found unconscious and half dead on a number of downers before and I lied and told a doctor prescribed them to me when I was scamming him to get the medications. Not saying she was doing anything amongst the lines of this, but I just don't fully trust any news, especially when a young women is involved and its about drugs.

If everything is true, yes the doctor was in the wrong.
But once a junky.. sorry to say, always a junky. Even when you get "clean" a part of that misery from your life stays with you. Look at methheads with no jobs.. even when they get off the stuff they're still stealing or doing scams.

 

[drug_mentor]

That is pretty fucked up! But I do see Heisenberg's point of view, surely there isn't a community more aware of sensationalist articles when it comes to drugs, there is a good likelihood this article is no different.

 

[hyroller]

If she was having a seizure a week - did she consult him after the first few times?
Guess we'll have to wait for the follow-up to know the rest.

And Heisenberg, it's a pretty defeatist attitude to label people (read: ex 'meth heads') as eternal addicts. Speak for yourself mate. People who care enough about life and have enough things going on around them that define them otherwise & OUTSIDE of their drug taking.... can assimilate themselves back into the community and get themselves back on track. I know this, for a fact .

 

[Heisenberg]

I think Xanax was a wrong choice personally. I think she should of been prescribed Rivtotril (clonazepam) instead but to do this on PBS with 2mg tablets you must have epilepsy and authorisation even though it is a S4 drug. It would lasted longer. Xanax withdrawals can go really really bad due to its short half life, then again Valium withdrawals are pretty bad but can take a week or two to kick in properly because of its long half life even though on a Valium addiction it feels like the effects wear off after 30 minutes and you are left stimulated.

 

[Heisenberg]

hyroller; when you're at full blown level it takes time and theres a high chance of relapse.
Only drug people seem to stear clear of after mental troubles is marijuana and psychedelics.