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Vignettes — #11
Martha
The room is oppressive — dark wood panelling, three suited men sitting at a table on a raised platform, flickering fluorescent lighting.
Martha, a GP, is sitting at a table facing the three men. She has a friend with her, another female doctor. The three men constitute a medical investigation committee — they are medical specialists and one is also a medical professor, acting as chairman.
“Dr Symons, can you explain to us why, on the 4th March 2019, you gave your patient, a fourteen-year-old boy, a very high-dose intramuscular injection of vitamin D?”
Martha looks through her notes. “The boy had a very low blood vitamin D level.”
“How did you ascertain that, Dr Symons?”
“I sent a blood sample to a pathology lab. And it reported a level of 45. The optimal level is over 90.”
“Isn’t it standard practice to supplement with tablets or an oral liquid?”
“Yes, that is standard practice. But it is only useful for maintaining levels. It doesn’t bring the levels up when someone is very deficient.” Martha finds a document and waves it at the committee. “There was an Australian medical trial that concluded a high-dose injection is warranted where a patient has low levels.”
