A friend of my husband's just called. He told me that he was told by his primary care VA physician that his prostate is enlarged, and she prescribed Terazosin for him. He followed the directions on the label - 1 capsule once daily. However, the capsule was 5 mg. and he later discovered that the literature the VA enclosed with the script said if you're just starting out on this medication, not to take more than 1 mg. This physician also knows the veteran takes Avapro 300 mg. once daily to control his blood pressure. Evidently, Terazosin is not only prescribed for prostate problems, but also to control hypertension. Anyway, yesterday, he made it to the emergency room at a local non-VA hospital on his own, thank God, because his blood pressure dropped to 80/60, and he then spent the next seven hours there with the staff trying to raise and stabilize his blood pressure. However, it doesn't appear he's suffered any permanent physical damage, however, he's more than likely going to be hit with a whopper of a medical bill. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had not made it to the local hospital.

Even though he understands at this point that he has not suffered any permanent physical harm, is this situation possibly grounds for both 1151 and FTCA claims? If the VA gives him a hard time about reimbursing both him and his private medical insurance, does he need to go through the 1151 and/or FTCA claims process to be reimbursed?

The fee-basis office at his VAMC should have to cover his ER visit. As for an 1151 or Tort claim....I'm guessing, but would think no. 80/60 is low, but not super low and not low enough to cause any problems. But I'm not an expert in this area at all...so I could very well be way wrong here.

There is something I highly encourage all vets to do whenever they get meds from a VA doc. Research them on the internet before taking them. I don't trust the VA with med doses. I've been made sick one too many times. There are many reputable on-line sites to do this....or just take your med list to a *real* pharmacy and ask a *real* pharmacist. I've never had one turn me down. In your favorite search engine type in "drug-drug interaction" and go from there. Also just search each med on WebMD or a similar well-known site.

Tell your hubby's friend to be sure to keep that med bottle though as proof of the VAs screw-up....just in case.

There is a lot to fee basis regulations- all found within 38 CFR 17.52, 17.53.

It does not appear to me that he has a basis for 1151 ---
yet----
this might be a medication problem and VA should correct it if this is reason for the hypotension episode.

I agree with Purple- He should get copies of the private hospital records but first check with VA fee basis billing at his regular hospital and perhaps they can fix this before he does get billed.Then see his primary care VA doc as find out why this happened and if his meds need to be changed.