Here's what I wanted

As I said, Dr. Amen sent me 2 emails in response to those I sent to him. After (briefly) explaining what had happened, I asked him to do 4 things: (1) have a talk with my pdoc (psychiatrist), explaining the standard of care and therapeutic drug monitoring of Lithium -- so no more patients would be put at risk, (2) have the pdoc write a letter of apology to me for putting me through a life-threatening situation, (3) pay my out-of-pocket expenses (slightly more than $3,000) for the ambulance and county emergency psychiatric hospital stay I had to endure as a result of my pdoc's grossly ineffective and negligent treatment of my depression, and (4) make me an offer for what value he would place on the days out of my life I spent involuntarily confined, the days I spent subsequently going through the county's follow-on psych treatment, and (most importantly) the weeks of constant torment I experienced before and after the hospital stay until I found a new pdoc who said, 'Sure, increase your Lithium dose from 600mg to 900mg each day."

That, gentle reader, was all it took to climb out of the depths of despair and re-enter the realm of the living.

Now it wasn't as though ANY psychiatric professional (nurses, technicians) I met thought it possible that I had the blood level I told them I'd seen on 600mg. They all SCOFFED at the possibility. They assumed there must have been an error because they assumed, of course, the result I was reporting was from a trough level test -- remember, NOBODY orders anything but a trough level test. And then I met with an actual pdoc in the county facility. After he finished scoffing, he asked about the time of day I had the test. It was at that moment I learned about "trough level" and the Lithium protocol.

I had hoped Dr. Amen would have made an appropriate settlement offer. I had, after all, promised to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange. And I appreciate that he has financial exposure here. He certainly doesn't want any admissions of culpability running around.

Perhaps it wasn't fair of me to say, "Make me an offer." Maybe I should have proposed an amount. There's an old saying in negotiation, "He who speaks first, loses." Had he been prepared to offer more than I wanted, I would have been reducing what I received. I think, as well, I wanted to see what value he placed on my life and my happiness. I haven't added up all the days, but I know it was more than TWO MONTHS of constant misery that I suffered as a direct result of his doctor mishandling my medication.

If it comes to a medical malpractice trial, I will march pdocs onto the stand until the judge and jury shout, "Enough!"

And so, what did Dr. Amen offer? He stopped communicating with me.

And now I must do 2 things: (1) look for a malpractice attorney who sees a large enough potential judgment to justify taking the case, and (2) via this blog make sure the world knows what the Amen Clinics did, such that I nearly died.

Much more to follow.