- Report: #1484209
Complaint Review: Pacific Radiology - Merivale, Christchurch
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Pacific Radiology
151 Leinster Rd. ( St. Georges Hospital ) Merivale, Christchurch, 8146 New Zealand
Phone:
0 64 3 379 0770 ext, 9308
Web:
pacificradiology.com
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Pacific Radiology Annelies - pain clinic manager Dr Tony Goh Adrianne Hayes - regional manager This company performed radiofrequency ablations on my spine with no visual guidance (fluoroscopy) to insert ablation needles Merivale, Christchurch
This report concerns two medical procedures that were performed on me July 5th & July 12th, 2019. All money stated is backed by receipts.
Before these dates I spoke & communicated by email with Annelies ( pain clinic director ) at Pacific Radiology in Christchurch, New Zealand. I was enquiring about a Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) or nerve burn on my low spine (L5-S1). I told her I had RFA's done in the US in 2000 on L5-S1 using Fluoroscopy guidance, or live X-ray. I'm sure she knew exactly what that meant.
She explained to me that Pacific Radiology used CT- guided medial branch blocks & CT- guided (RFA's). I naturally presumed this was visual guidance of the ablation needles inserted to burn the targeted nerves. She never explained to me there was no fluoroscopy involved, no visual guidance of the needles & that the injections were done BLIND. Even if I didn't ask, Annelies should have explained it to me. Thats failure to disclose. She told me a referral and a CT-scan would be adequate to schedule the appointments.
On July 5th I arrived at Pacific for the test CT-guided medial branch blocks. The test showed enough pain relief to proceed with the RFA's. My pain before I got to the clinic was about an 8 on a 10 scale.
On July 12th I had 4 RFA's done on my spine L5-S1 There was no fluoroscopy used or any kind of visual guidance. They slid in & out of a CT-scan machine, face down, and mapped our injection points by putting dots on my back with a magic marker. You have got to be kidding me!
They told me I would have pain from the procedures for 4 or even 6 weeks. I alreadly knew this as I had taken 3 or 4 weeks to recover from the RFA's in the US in 2000. The procedure had taken him much less time than usual and something did not feel right when he was burning the bottom 2 nerve sites.
I stayed for 15 days after the procedures to recover and was in terrible pain. I had to go to an emergency clinic to get a refill on my oxycodone. When I flew back to Samoa on July 28th I was in horrible pain and had to take 2 oxycodone just to ride in a wheelchair. When I got back, my wife couldn't believe what I looked like.
Five weeks after the procedures my pain level increased to a 10+ on a 10 scale & I was becoming very sick as I was taking oxycodone and having this level of pain. Pacific nurse contacted me and I told her I would get back to Annelies in a couple days.
I told her she failed to disclose the most important info about the procedures to me, and that if she had I would have said good bye and stopped contact with Pacific. I acknowledged she said there was no gaurantee of any pain relief, BUT she said nothing about the pain getting much worse and being possibly injured. I also requested a refund of all the money I had paid for both procedures $5,805.00 NZ.
A couple days later, I got an email from Adrianne Hayes (regional manager), who basically called me a liar through the entire email, but then said Pacific was sending me a refund for the procedures (plural). Then she was lying to me on top of her insults.
A couple days later, I get an email from someone in accounting saying I'm getting a refund for $3,938.00, the cost of the main procedure only, which made Adrianne Hayes a liar and a thief. I just let them send it, because once they did it proved they were guilty.
I live on a remote Pacific island and there are no specialists or pain clinics here. My life is wretched from the pain Pacific has caused me and ten weeks after their procedure my pain level is at a constant 9+. Dr Goh sent a letter to me in Samoa saying I needed an MRI, orthopedic specialist and another ablation on L4-L5. Just what I needed, spend another $15,000.00 to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Pacific has no email or recorded phone conversation telling me there is no fluoroscopy or visual guidance in their procedures. I can gaurantee this fact.
Last time, I kindly requested that Pacific refund my procedure fees. My attitude has somehow changed, since the people at Pacific Radiology are liars and thieves.
They have no business performing a dangerous procedure like this no visual guidance and inferior technology. The women there even told me that marking dots on my back is safer and better than fluoroscopy. These people are out of their minds!!
People in New Zealand and the South Pacific need to be aware of this Mickey Mouse, Fly By Night outfit, before they cripple someone else.
Therefore, I am DEMANDING that Pacific Radiology refund all the money I paid out for referrals, travel expenses, the branch block procedures, lodging, other medical expenses and phone expenses to the amount of $5,544.51 NZ.
In fact, as far as what they have done to the rest of my life, I DEMAND five times that much, $27,722.55 NZ
