Dr. Robert BurkichRINGGOLD, Ga. -- A North Georgia doctor must pay a patient a quarter of a million dollars after almost killing him with medicine.
In September 2011, according to court documents, Steve Gables visited Dr. Robert Burkich's Preventive Medicine Anti-Aging & Chelation practice in Ringgold. Court records state the patient was diagnosed with low testosterone and Burkich approved a nurser practitioner's preseciption for Tamoxifen.
Problem is, Tamoxifen is for breast cancer, not low testosterone. And it can cause blood clots. One day, about four months after Burkich told him to take the medicine, Gables was sitting in his living room when he felt his leg cramp.
"It was just hard," he said. "Hard as granite."
Court filings and expert testimony state that blood clots formed as a result of taking Temoxifen and one of the clots broke off and travelled through Gables' veins to his lung, causing a pulmonary embolism.
Gables went to Memorial Hospital's emergency room, and a doctor asked to see all of his medication. When the doctor looked at the Tamoxifen, Gables said, he almost yelled.
"Who put you on this?" the doctor demanded.
Gables, of Ooltewah, said that was the first time he learned his medication was for breast cancer. He filed a lawsuit against Burkich. Three years later, on Oct. 24, a jury ruled in Gables' favor. The jury awarded Gables $40,000, but he will receive $250,000. That's because before the verdict, both parties agreed that the defendant would pay Gables $250,000 should the verdict be in his favor and lower than that amount.
The doctor did not return a call seeking comment Monday. He graduated from medical school in 1989 and has been treating patients since 1996, according to a letter he later sent the newspaper.
Gables said Burkich's prescription ruined his life. Because of the clots, he now has to take blood thinners. And because he is taking blood thinners, he said, he is vulnerable to dangerous injuries.
If he falls off a ladder, he is now more likely to suffer internal bleeding. A typical cut, he said, could lead to a lot of bleeding, so much that he could die. He sweats more now and quickly becomes dehydrated.
"You sweat like a mine mule when you're out in the heat," he said, "and you freeze to death when you're out in the cold."
He said these problems mean he can't work in heating and air anymore, a job he held for about 30 years. He now works as a janitor and makes about $15,000 less each year compared to what he used to earn.
Attorneys for Burkich argued that none of this was their client's fault. In the dull language of court filings, they shifted the blame to Gables himself and the wonders of nature.
They wrote: "If Plaintiff has suffered any damages, they were suffered by Plaintiff as a result of his own negligence."
And they wrote: "Plaintiff's injuries were the result of Plaintiff's multiple medical problems and not the result of negligent care."
And they wrote: "Any damages to the Plaintiff are a result of a traumatic and/or natural disease process which was either pre-existing or spontaneous."
Gables said that is all nonsense. He said the blame begins and ends with his doctor.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.