Could I sue a doctor for misdiagnosing me with an STD?

Question

My doctor told me she was positive I had Chlamydia and gave me medication which made me VERY sick. I even blamed my boyfriend and made him feel bad! It turns out, I just had a bacterial and yeast infection. Could I sue?

I got my test results back today. Any STDS she told me i had were negative ... but she told me she was positive even before i got the official results that I had Clymadia.

Answer 1

In the US, you can file a civil suit against anyone, anytime you want, for any reason you think is valid. To win a suit, you need to show that you were harmed by an improper action. There's no guarantee you will win even if the doctor totally screwed up, and even if you win, there's no guarantee that you will be rewarded enough money to go through all the trouble.

Here's some things to consider:

* Becoming sick from medication is not an improper action by a doctor unless you were not provided information that explained that the medicine can make you sick
* Prescribing an antibiotic for a condition, before getting the lab results to confirm the diagnosis, can be considered the appropriate treatment when effects of delaying treatment outweigh risks of prescribing medicine that is not actually needed. It might be considered inappropriate if there's no harm in waiting for the test results.
*A jury may or may not be convinced that the doctor is responsible for you blaming your boyfriend

Answer 2

i'd check and make sure what type of bacterial infection you had before you even think about that. after all, chlamydia is a bacterial infection (as are gonorrhea and syphillis). i think you'd probably have a fairly weak case if you sued.

ps- if your medication made you really sick, i hope you called the doc and told her. there are a few treatments for chlamydia.

Answer 3

i'm not trying to be rude but that's really pathetic - everyone makes mistakes. just be glad you haven't got an STD and get over it.