Legal/fucked over advice

[jakam04]

Dear Danni/Dolly doctor etc etc

Well.... what a fucking brilliant way to screw someones life plans up. Not sure whether you all knew or was fussed about, but I have recently chosen to leave my current employer for greener pastures. I have spent a considerable amount of money setting myself up in the chosen career path as a truck driver (yeah, not that glamorous, but its a nice change from past 17 years).

I have recently found out that I have a medical condition (Sleep apnoea) that was initially observed as early as Feb last year and a letter was sent from that particular specialist to my GP. My GP in her ultimate wisdom stamped it with a NFA (No further action) stamp and filed it away instead of chasing up tests and treatment for this condition. I only discovered this letter stating I had hallmark symptoms of this condition when I was copying my file for some veterans affairs claims for injuries etc.

On speaking to this Dr, she then organised a specialist in this condition to conduct tests just before I departed Perth and on the Saturday prior to the Wednesday I departed, I was informed I had this condition.

I have only recently found out that this condition is a serious condition when related to a heavy vehicle operator, so now Im stuck with a licence i cant be employed with an a less than impressive bank balance due to training conducted...

I am considering getting legal advice to see if I can take this DR to court to re-imburse my costs for training/licences etc because if she had done her job in Feb, I would have been recieving treatment and also would not have expended funds for training as would have known this condition would prevent employment as a driver...

Does anyone know any legal beagles that would know if I have a case to pursue or do I suck it up and deal with it???


Signed Truck driver wannabe

[Fish]

Fuck mate that's bullshit. Fuckin Drs are getting worse and worse, some of the shit they pull at my work would just make you want to slap the fuckers. Good luck sorting it out mate.

[suxukifreak]

Before you take any drastic action..........i would sleep on it http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/upload/62676855418190.gif



Sorry mate, couldnt resist. That fucked and i hope it works out. :)

[devo]

Fuck Des your an Arsehole [:0] But it didn't stop me pissing myself laughing though :D
Ask Rexie , ZED-14 he is a Truck driver he may know a little about it.;)

That's fucked man, if i mis-diagnosed cars as often as doctors have mis-diagnosed me i'd be unemployable. Make the incompetent fucker pay

[Cruisecontrol]

Unless you told this doctor of your plans to operate heavy vehicles prior to her stamping it NFA then there is nothing you can do about it. Doctors aren't mind readers, nor do they have crystal balls to see into the future and consider every possible outcome.
She made a decision based on the info provided by you and considering the high incidence of sleep apnoea, obviously deemed that in your CURRENT situation, further investigation was not worthwhile.

[BOHEMION]

Man Jarrod that sucks mate, Cruise the Doc doesnt need a reason for continuing or not continuing a condition based on "plans" when found, There main concern is the future quality of life. She made a call, She fucked up. Due to the seriousness of the condition and the fact that he was in the defence force alone should have sparked some interest in starting treatment. The Doc Fucked up.

this is the reason docs have insurance

[chopaweeza]

I suffer from Sleep Apnoea as well. If you are in private medical coverage get a second Specialist opinion and get the appropriate surgery . Generally , they just cut & shut some of the muscles & skin bits inside the nose & throat . They can if need be remove the Tonsils & Adnoids or "Rebore" the nose opening it right out . I'm on the waiting list to go to the sleep therapy center to be assessed and in 2 years I'll have my go. On private cover it's a shorter time but you pay for it .

[Cruisecontrol]

quote:Originally posted by BOHEMION

Man Jarrod that sucks mate, Cruise the Doc doesnt need a reason for continuing or not continuing a condition based on "plans" when found, There main concern is the future quality of life. She made a call, She fucked up. Due to the seriousness of the condition and the fact that he was in the defence force alone should have sparked some interest in starting treatment. The Doc Fucked up.

this is the reason docs have insurance


The majority of people that have sleep apnoea don't even know about it because it doesn't impact directly on their lives due to their current lifestyle.
I may decide to become a clearance diver in the future, but have issues balancing the pressure in my ears. Right now I couldn't give a fuck because it makes no difference to my "quality of life" and I would expect the doctor to have the same opinion.

I might sue the bastard doctor for circumcising me because I had big plans to get into the uncut porn industry...

[BOHEMION]

" that was initially observed as early as Feb last year and a letter was sent from that particular specialist to my GP. My GP in her ultimate wisdom stamped it with a NFA "

The doc knew about a condition mate, is ur balancing prob an issue discovered under diagnosis and ignored or is it an just a flaw in ur own body? Because inner ear probs are easily treated as well. Have you even told your doc about it? And mate "Quality of life" means if you find something under diagnosis you do something about it no matter what the patients current lifestyle is or from the chances that it can cause an issue later on in life. Its entirely treatable and should have been tackled is the point.

[jakam04]

quote:Originally posted by Cruisecontrol

Unless you told this doctor of your plans to operate heavy vehicles prior to her stamping it NFA then there is nothing you can do about it. Doctors aren't mind readers, nor do they have crystal balls to see into the future and consider every possible outcome.
She made a decision based on the info provided by you and considering the high incidence of sleep apnoea, obviously deemed that in your CURRENT situation, further investigation was not worthwhile.


Thank you for your reply mate, and offering a possible answer for her behalf... but seeing as Im in a very high risk job doing shifts etc, I would think that if she engaged brain, then Id actually need to be 100% in my current job let alone the new career I was moving towards :D

Ta

[jakam04]

I will elaborate a little more... The actual statement in the letter was (In bold and in italics) " he was noted to have hallmarks of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea during his anestesia".

Yes. Sleep Apnoea is more pronounced during alcohol or through medication eg. anestesia. However, there are two levels of sleep apnoea that Im aware of being Sleep Apnoea (being a mild verion) and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (which I have been diagnosed with) which is a more moderate level.

After being a shift worker for the last 6 years, I have gone through stages of being very tired etc, so I didnt really realise further investigation was warrented. The last 12 months has been a shocker with my ability to drive distances, my attentiveness between shifts has been lessened but once again, just thought it was the shifts knocking me around along with having 2 kids under 2 in the house etc.

When I approached the same doctor, it was amazing how quickly she got me to see a Sleep specialist... almost falling over herself to do it.

Ive spoken to a few of my work mates who have been affected by mild Sleep Apnoea and they have had the surgery with mixed results. When discussing the actual sleep survey they were subjected to, my results were considerably more pronounced than theirs so surgery doesnt look like the likely option... Will wait and see once I get into see another Dr in Brisbane... Hopefully he/she will be better than my last.

Chopa... I am lucky enough that being in Defence puts me into the private sector for health care. Heres to hoping your op gets here sooner than you think.

Ta all.

[Cruisecontrol]

quote:Originally posted by jakam04



Thank you for your reply mate, and offering a possible answer for her behalf... but seeing as Im in a very high risk job doing shifts etc, I would think that if she engaged brain, then Id actually need to be 100% in my current job let alone the new career I was moving towards :D

Ta


So would this be a military doctor down the local R.A.P?

[jakam04]

quote:Originally posted by Cruisecontrol


quote:Originally posted by jakam04



Thank you for your reply mate, and offering a possible answer for her behalf... but seeing as Im in a very high risk job doing shifts etc, I would think that if she engaged brain, then Id actually need to be 100% in my current job let alone the new career I was moving towards :D

Ta


So would this be a military doctor down the local R.A.P?


No, shes a civilian Dr, most are these days... I rarely see Military Drs these days as they seem to be hiding elsewhere in the system and shes down the base medical centre

[Cruisecontrol]

quote:Originally posted by BOHEMION



The doc knew about a condition mate, is ur balancing prob an issue discovered under diagnosis and ignored or is it an just a flaw in ur own body? Because inner ear probs are easily treated as well. Have you even told your doc about it? And mate "Quality of life" means if you find something under diagnosis you do something about it no matter what the patients current lifestyle is or from the chances that it can cause an issue later on in life. Its entirely treatable and should have been tackled is the point.


Well that is my point.
Issue discovered during medical examination prior to open water dive course. Had trouble equalizing, nearly missed the course.
Not currently diving with no future intention to do so, therefore it is not a problem.
My Mrs has diagnosed sleep apnoea after exhaustive testing (pardon the pun) and the specialist gave her several options as per Chp's case. Considering her lifestyle, she chose the less envasive option and did nothing about it.

[Cruisecontrol]

quote:Originally posted by jakam04



No, shes a civilian Dr, most are these days... I rarely see Military Drs these days as they seem to be hiding elsewhere in the system and shes down the base medical centre


My experiences with Defence health care lead me to believe they care about nothing more than getting people back to work as quick as possible.
I had a drunken bicycle stack in Darwin and fucked my foot up pretty well (severed artery, chipped bone in ankle and masses of nerve damage). Once out of the week long stay in civvy hospital I was sent straight up to the Army doc where he promptly told me that I would no longer have any feeling in the top of my foot, so get that boot on and walking will do it some good.

[Slain]

mate have you spoken to defence health? and by that i mean a med officer not a counter chick?
Youre in toowoomba now arent you? If so i have some mates who work out at oakey at the RAP and could pass your details on and see what they think from a medical standpoint?

Plus from what ive heard around the traps, if this was diagnosed prior to you leaving the adf then part of your march out is to have medical conditions that are discovered during your time in green/blue must be rectified or at minimum a case is to be launched in order to seek compensation.

Had a mate at my unit who was taken out on his cruiser on the way to work and as a result was med 4 and subsiquently forced to d. he receives free cover to rectify his problem and has compensation pending.
Youve got my email mate, let me know and i can get in touch with a good mate from oakey to give you some advice.

[jakam04]

quote:Originally posted by Slain

mate have you spoken to defence health? and by that i mean a med officer not a counter chick?
Youre in toowoomba now arent you? If so i have some mates who work out at oakey at the RAP and could pass your details on and see what they think from a medical standpoint?

Plus from what ive heard around the traps, if this was diagnosed prior to you leaving the adf then part of your march out is to have medical conditions that are discovered during your time in green/blue must be rectified or at minimum a case is to be launched in order to seek compensation.

Had a mate at my unit who was taken out on his cruiser on the way to work and as a result was med 4 and subsiquently forced to d. he receives free cover to rectify his problem and has compensation pending.
Youve got my email mate, let me know and i can get in touch with a good mate from oakey to give you some advice.


Email sent mate..

Ta

[KATO ZX7]

What a massive bitch...
good luck with it all jarrod, lets us know how you get on with it all

[pt]

well from a medical perspective i would say no drama. there are lots of people who have OSA and have no idea/dont give a shit enough to do anything about it. anyone who snores could have sleep apnoea. thats alot of fucking people. and surgery isnt often the answer. alot of the time they will tell you to lose weight, drink less, change the position you sleep in, see if allergies are causing some of the problem. otherwise they could put you on a CPAP machine that you have to wear at night for the rest of your life. and finally surgery which is a mixed bag as people have said.

really just try to get defence to pay for it since it was identified prior to discharge. the end result probably will be as unsatisfactory as the way you feel now anyway. changing lifestyle/sleeping position or something.

[jakam04]

Ok, to clear things up. I dont care about having to use a CPAP machine for the rest of my life or have the need for surgery. The main issue here was that the DR chose not to inform me of this issue thus leaving me to think alls well. On the assumption that all was well, I commenced doing some training courses to set me up for employment outside Defence at significant costs to myself and family. These decision processes etc would have been significantly different had I been informed of the Sleep Apnoea, even if I was just a brief call to let me know. I didnt recieve a copy of this letter so how the hell was I meant to be informed if she didnt tell me?

I have not left the Defence Forces yet. I dont step outside the door til Feb, which means I could withdraw my paperwork and continue to serve (which seems to me a more likely option being I wont be able to enter my chosen career). But this has other consequences.. ie. returning to perth to finish time there, asking for a change of job due to medical reason etc etc... the fun just doesnt stop does it..

Jarrod

[Shadowzone]

Jarrod havin sleep apneoa won't stop you from driving trucks. It will stop you from getting your TFMS/BFM accreditation medical passed if you don't forget to tell your new doctor about the condition when you have your medical. That in and of itself still won't prohibit you from being a commercial driver, it simply stops you from doing 14hr days and leaves you at 12. Tough call mate especially since you don't really get anymore money for having the 14hr book.

I say drive if it's honestly what you want to do and to hell with those who say otherwise.

[rock hard]

This is what impresses the shit out of me. this forum and the people in it actually stick together .fuckin awesome people.

[pt]

does sleep apnoea prohibit you from driving a heavy vehicle? or a specific type of vehicle? seems odd as being chronically tired can be caused by a shitload of things apart from sleep apnoea.

i would think there would still be some form of employment available in the field even with sleep apnoea.

as for not being informed i dont want to go bagging one party or another without knowing the whole deal. i say ring up and just see what the deal is or see another doc.

main thing is dont let it stop you doing what you want, i'm sure there is a way.

[ozzy1100]

fuck me jarrod you get yrself in some shit lol
good luck but youprob find wont stop you in many things you going for

[jakam04]

To all the people that have replied to this thread, thank you for your constructive input. I will be visiting a Dr on Monday and also making some calls regarding legal options etc.

Once again thanks all

Jarrod

[morrigan]

Good luck with it Jarrod. I really can't imagine sleep apnoea preventing you from driving a truck. Most of the truckies I know are overweight, drink too much, and snore like they're sawing wet wood with a blunt saw!
Don't let the bureaucrats get you down, or stop you from doing what you want to do.