Steroid Responder Treated With Steroids
If you are identified as a 'steroid responder', your treatment must be adapted or you should be regularly monitored to ensure you do not come to any harm. If steroids are continued, you run the risk of developing serious complications such as glaucoma, cataracts, visual loss and osteoporosis.
If you have been left with such complications because you were treated with steroids, despite having a negative response to the medication, you could be the victim of medical negligence. This would entitle you to pursue a claim against those at fault, which enables you to obtain compensation for the damages you have wrongfully sustained.
To find out more about claiming compensation for the negligent administration of steroids, please get in touch with us at Glynns Solicitors. We specialise in medical negligence claims.
Treating eye conditions with steroids
Steroids can be used to treat a number of eye conditions. One of the most common is uveitis where the middle layer of the eye (called the uvea) becomes inflamed. This can lead to a range of symptoms, including floaters where dots float across the field of vision.
Uveitis is typically treated with corticosteroids. These help to reduce the inflammation. Steroids can be administered in the form of eye drops, injections or oral tablets. The method chosen will depend upon the location of the inflammation, and the severity of the patient's symptoms.
Monitoring the effects of steroids
Steroids are considered to be a safe way of treating eye condition when taken in the short-term. But if a patient requires steroid treatment for a prolonged period of time, it is important that he/she is monitored to ensure there are no adverse consequences. Steroids can cause unpleasant side effects such as depression, as well as serious health complications such as raised intraocular pressure.
Raised intraocular pressure means that the pressure caused by fluid inside the eye has become dangerously high. This can damage the optic nerve, resulting in the loss of vision. However, someone with raised intraocular pressure may not have any symptoms at first, which is why monitoring a patient is particularly important. Otherwise the problem may only become apparent once the patient has started to lose their site.
Being identified as a steroid responder
Therefore when a patient is undergoing steroid treatment for an eye condition, it is necessary to ascertain whether or not he/she is a 'steroid responder'. A steroid responder is someone who experiences raised intraocular pressure while taking steroid medication.
There are various ways to check intraocular pressure. A tonometer is a device that can measure the pressure inside the eye, while visual field testing and assessments of the optic nerve can also reveal problems.
How to treat a steroid responder
If a patient is identified as a steroid responder, medical practitioners must consider what action to take next. This will depend upon a number of factors, such as how badly the optic nerve has been damaged, whether the patient has any risk factors for glaucoma (like a family history) and how much the intraocular pressure has risen by.
A patient who is not at risk of developing glaucoma and who has a healthy optic nerve may be told to stop taking the steroids. Often this is sufficient to bring the intraocular pressure back under control.
If the intraocular pressure does not reduce, or the patient must continue taking the steroids because of their condition, he/she should be simultaneously treated for glaucoma. Glaucoma treatment is also necessary if the patient found to have severe optic nerve damage or a very high intraocular pressure.
In summary, it is not sufficient to identify a patient as a steroid responder and continue to administer steroids as before. Some change in treatment is required. This might be stopping the steroid treatment, prescribing a different medication, monitoring the intraocular pressure, or administering drugs to prevent glaucoma.
Failing to stop steroid treatment – what are the complications?
If a patient is known to be a steroid responder yet medical practitioners continue to treat him/her with steroids, a number of potential complications may arise. These include:
- Glaucoma
- Cataracts
- Visual loss
- Osteoporosis.
Steroid-induced glaucoma is when the pressure inside the eye becomes so great that the optic nerve is injured, causing vision to deteriorate. Like glaucoma, steroid-induced cataracts can lead to vision loss. The steroids induce changes inside the lens, causing it to thicken to become cloudy.
Along with sight problems, steroids can result in osteoporosis (weak bones) because the medication can change the amount of calcium and vitamin D in the bones, making them 'thinner'. Consequently the bones are more likely to fracture.
Negligent administration of steroids
If you have developed complications due to the negligent administration of steroids, you could be entitled to pursue a claim for compensation. The care you received may be deemed negligent if:
- Medical practitioners fail to monitor a patient to see if he/she is a steroid responder
- Medical practitioners fail to stop treating a patient with steroids despite the development of raised intraocular pressure
- Medical practitioners identify a patient as a steroid responder but fail to explore different methods of treatment
- Medical practitioners realise the patient has raised intraocular pressure but fail to monitor the situation to ensure the problem is brought under control
- Medical practitioners fail to treat steroid-induced glaucoma, cataracts or osteoporosis
These are just some of the ways in which the negligent administration of steroids may lead to a medical negligence claim. Whatever the circumstances of your care, if you believe you have developed life-changing injuries as a result of steroid treatment, you need to speak to a solicitor.
Medical negligence claim
For free expert legal advice, please get in touch with us at Glynns Solicitors. We are a specialist medical negligence law firm acting for clients across England and Wales. We will be able to say whether or not you have grounds to make a compensation claim. We offer you this advice completely free of charge and obligation.
If you do wish to proceed with legal action, we can run the case on your behalf, fighting to get the compensation you deserve.
Call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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