Dear Doctor Dumb-F*ck,
I write regarding my son, Matthew McDonald, who was diagnosed, by paediatricians at the RAH, with infant reflux when he was around 5 weeks old. There, he was prescribed three different medications to treat the symptoms, reduce the acid and to empty his stomach faster. All of these were important in order that he gained weight. Several months ago I contacted you regarding his dosages, as the back of one of the medicine labels recommended a larger dose for babies over 4.5kg, which Matthew had finally reached. I was concerned that the effective dose of each medicine increases as the child gains weight. In fact, I contacted you twice because I was so convinced he must need a larger dose, however was twice told he should continue as directed. Matthew today attended the hospital again as his weight gain was, again, insufficient. Upon review, it was found that Matthew's dosage is far below the effective dosage for his weight. I was asked if I had not had it reviewed with my GP. I feel thoroughly let down by my local health service. I believe my son would have continued to grow as expected, had he been correctly treated. I am outraged that this has happened in spite of my asking for a medical review not once, but twice. I believe I am, frankly, borderline depressed due to my building stress, and much of this could have been avoided, not to mention the distress to my infant son, who gets very upset when he is forcefully sick. We have been forcing him to take medicine that doesn't work every day for months. To compound this, I now find out from my pharmacist that rather than dispensing 60 tablets for 60 days, allowing me to correctly and accurately dose from a suspension, I can have only 30 tablets, with instruction to "cut them in half." I am now terrified I will mis-judge "half" of the miniscule tablet, which is not marked for cutting, and accidentally overdose my baby. I am advised this is a cost-saving measure and the only solution is to buy a pill-cutter and hope for the best, or to see my GP for a new prescription! Notably, the pharmacist was not comfortable to cut the tablets for me either because of the physical nature of the pills, which are very crumbly and likely to absorb moisture. I take this to mean it won't necessarily be accurate even if she does it. Better that I'm the one to do it, yes, and then I'm responsible? She went on to suggest I use a pill cutter, but said that I would have to buy it because it wouldn't be prescribed on minor ailments or by a GP. I am currently waiting for an appointment at the hospital to give Matthew a barium meal scan, and have an additional follow-up appointment to re-weigh and check his dosages in a month. I need a health visitor to come to my home every week to keep an eye on him. Now, I also have to go back to the hospital tomorrow to ask for a different prescription allowing me to administer my child's medicine. Some of this is not your fault, but had you updated his dose correctly none of it would be necessary. I hope you enjoy your salary, which I believe my contributions have helped to pay.
Regards,
Your worst nightmare.
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