DO NOT SEE THIS DOCTOR! I saw Dr. Roberts after years of chronic back pain as a last ditch effort for relief. He decided to do Trigger Point injections.
I found the whole experience to be "off" from the very beginning. He seemed to be rushing through and instead of having targeted areas or any kind of strategy, he just had me reach back and point to where I thought I needed it. He even said "well I have one more needle we can use, tell me where I should use it."
I wish with all my heart I could go back and say "no more" because when that last shot went in, I immediately felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, I could taste a metallic fluid in my mouth and I began to cough.
Dr. Roberts didn't even ask if I was okay, he just took off his gloves and left.
I began to feel sick to my stomach and very light headed. The nurse had me lay down until I wasn't dizzy. I began to have a pain in my chest and felt short of breath. The nurse asked me if I had a cough before I came in, when I told her no she said I needed to have a chest x-ray in case my lung had been punctured. (nobody had told me this was a risk, and it was not listed on the waiver I signed.) She told me this had happened to one of the nurses in their office when he had given her trigger point shots.
I told the nurse the chest pains and breathing were getting worse. I could tell she was nervous but she suggested that maybe I was "nervous". I had the x-ray but they said it looked normal. I told them that my chest was getting worse, but they said my vitals seemed fine so I should be good to go.
I had an hour drive home and the pain just got worse and worse. I had to use my inhaler when I got home.
I was so confused because they told me I was fine and that the x-ray was normal so I thought maybe this is a side effect that would get better in the morning. Chest pains were not listed as a side effect to look for on the discharge paper they sent home.
I was in so much agony and it just didn't seem right. so I started googling my symptoms and from what I read it sounded exactly like a lung puncture. I read that when induced by a needle sometimes an x-ray cannot see it and requires a CT scan.
I finally decided I needed to go to the ER. Everybody there seemed skeptical that I would have had my lung punctured by trigger point injections but they ordered a CT and not surprisingly it showed my left lung had been punctured.
I was admitted overnight. Thankfully it was small enough that I didn't require a chest tube or surgical repair, but my pain did have to be managed with morphine and follow up scans and x-rays were required to monitor.
When I started receiving the thousands of dollars of bills from all of this I reached out to the Patient Advocacy at the hospital. I told them I was not looking to make any money off of this, I wasn't even asking them to compensate for all the additional expenses like loss of work from myself and my spouse. I just wanted the hospital to wave the cost of the care I required to fix Dr. Roberts mistake. This was denied on first attempt as well as with an appeal.
The most egregious part of this entire experience to me came when I requested my records in preparation for my appeal letter. When I saw the notes regarding the trigger point procedure I was appalled. Not only had they left out anything regarding the puncture, the chest pains etc. They included false information claiming the procedure had gone well with no issues even writing "She tolerated the procedure well post-injection she had less pain she was discharged home in satisfactory condition." This is falsification of my medical history and a blatant cover up attempt.
My primary Dr. expressed disapproval and shock. She said she didn't feel prepared for my follow up visit due to the inaccurate portrayal. Having an accurate medical history is vital to my health and future physicians who may need to know this information.
I have worked so hard over the past 7 years to pay off all of my medical debt. Now thanks to this negligent Dr. I am thousands of dollars in debt again.

Submitted July 12, 2021