I Want to Sue My Dermatologist, Part 2

Dr. Rassman, I’m the poster of “I Want to Sue My Dermatologist” and I think you misinterpreted a few things in the post. First off, I’m already 18 and have already been taking propecia for 2 and a half months, and yet the problem seems to be getting worse. I would also like to mentione that when I saw my first dermatologist, I was 15 years old and walked in to the office looking for a treatment, not a diagnosis. I was very aware that I was losing my hair and wanted to stop it from progressing, however this first dermatologist denied that I was actually balding, thus my reason for wanting to sue would be an incorrect diagnosis. You yourself said that you would prescribe propecia to someone who was balding under age 18, which my (initial) dermatologist did not do.

Now I am 18, and the (new) doctor I saw 2 and a half months ago indeed confirmed that I was balding, thus prescribing propecia. I know it can take months to have an effect, but it has already gotten much worse than it was even as little as 2 weeks ago. I want to sue my initial dermatologist under the grounds of mis-diagnosis (thus causing severe psychological damage) in order to pay for a hair transplant, so I won’t need to walk around walk around like this any longer.
As far as needing a final hair loss pattern, I already have that- my brother… my 22 year old brother. His situation is nearly identical to mine and his hairline along with thinning on the top are the same that I am experiencing.

Now for the anxiety/depression. I have had a history of therapists that have done nothing, prescriptions that were effective as sugar pills, and all that jazz. Problem is, I’m a science-type person. My brain can’t go a second without making a qualitative analysis of my condition. What do I mean by this? I mean to say that any attempt to “make my problem better” doesn’t work at “making my problem better” because I’m still losing my hair. There is no such thing as coping, but rather deceit, tomfoolery, a jedi mind-trick. The only way I will get out of this is to get what I want. End of story.

What I ask of you is to inform me whether or not I honesty could win a lawsuit on this to afford my transplant, because I don’t really know the law when it comes to medical issues.

The basic grounds for a successful lawsuit against a doctor must show:

1. Damage as a result of the doctors action (inaction is much more difficult and in your case in particular it would be an uphill battle)
2. Not meeting the standard of care (it might be successfully argued that the experience in genetic hair loss for the 15 year old is NOT prescribing Propecia and this may be a reasonable standard for most doctors).

Doctors generally prevail most of the time in any malpractice action unless there would be deforming or life threatening situations caused by the doctor’s action.

To take a trial before a jury, you would have to get the jury’s sympathy and understanding. They would have to look at you (at the 15 year old young man you were) and ask if you were their child, what would they have done. It would take a masterful lawyer’s argument to prevail in such a situation, so to answer your question in a nicely bullet-pointed way —

1. I do not think that you would find any lawyer willing to take this case on with a contingency fee
2. You would probably not win
3. And if you did win, the damages would be very small

As far is your continued hair loss, wait this out for a few months and hopefully you will see some benefits of taking Propecia at this time.