Wednesday, March 25, 2009

People are Dumb!


Woman Claims She Got Therapy at Store

On her way to have a mammogram in July 2007, Ann McGrath and her partner stopped to pick up dog food at a pet store called The Critters & Me.
McGrath claims she got some bad medical advice along with the kibble, and last week she filed suit against the store owner — an old friend — saying the owner told her the mammogram would be harmful and instead persuaded her to undergo “bioresonance therapy” using a machine at the pet store that its manufacturer promotes as a tool for veterinarians.
McGrath took four treatments at The Critters & Me with the “Bicom 2000” machine.
The lump in McGrath's breast continued to grow and, the lawsuit says, the delay in getting a doctor's treatment caused her breast cancer to progress to Stage II.
McGrath's suit against The Critters & Me owner Laura Moore says it was “unconscionable” that Moore told McGrath to rely on the Bicom 2000 instead of a mammogram.
Moore on Monday wouldn't comment on details of the suit but said, “This is the most shocking thing coming from a 16-year friend that I've ever had happen in my life. It's a 'he said, she said.' ”
“It's hurtful. I treat animals, that is what I do,” Moore said. “I just did this because she was a friend.”
Moore said she does homeopathy and bioresonance therapy for pets as a supportive treatment. “All the animals I treat are under vets' care,” she said. “I am not a people-treatment person. I have a dog food store.”
McGrath did not have the mammogram, the state District Court lawsuit states, because of Moore's statement to her that small benign lumps often occur in breasts and that “the radiation exposure from the exam would be harmful.”
McGrath's suit says Moore had “successfully provided homeopathic consultation and care” for McGrath and her partner, Susan Kennedy, in the past.
McGrath had discovered the pea-sized lump in her right breast in early July 2007, and a nurse-practitioner who examined her gave her a prescription for a mammogram. McGrath and Moore are both San Miguel County residents.
The lawsuit states Moore took McGrath to a treatment room near the back of the pet store at 1403 Agua Fria and had her sit in a chair next to the Bicom 2000 machine. Moore took a sample of McGrath's blood “and placed the blood sample in the Bicom 2000 machine and began an evaluation.”
Then Moore told McGrath that she could “guarantee” that McGrath did not have cancer or pre-cancer, “explaining that the lump was benign and could be shrunk by continued treatment on the Bicom 2000,” the lawsuit states.
According to a Bicom Resonance company statement at its Web site, the Bicom 2000 — promoted as “Today's Veterinary Treatment for Allergies” — works by having electrodes placed on the body “which conduct frequency pattern 'information' in the Bicom 2000.” The information is then “improved” in the Bicom 2000 and “returned to the body as therapeutic signals via another electrode.”
McGrath returned to the store in July 2007 for her second treatment on the Bicom 2000, which cost $53.94, according to a receipt included with the lawsuit.
A third treatment followed in September, and also included a treatment to relieve arthritic pain.
A fourth treatment was done in November.
By December 2007, McGrath noticed the lump was growing. The lawsuit states that, when McGrath confronted Moore, she was told that “if the tumor is growing, it's because you are not receiving enough treatments.”
McGrath made an appointment with an allopathic physician, Raphael Shapiro, for February 2008. During that visit, McGrath had a mammogram and a sonogram, which confirmed that McGrath had Stage II breast cancer.
McGrath was told by subsequent physicians that her delay in diagnosis and treatment had caused her breast cancer to progress to Stage II, for which she was advised to have a double mastectomy.
McGrath underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation.


2 comments:

Turfdraagster said...

speechless....

Anonymous said...

So , you ought to be able to have your surgery at work, right? Maybe by one of the employees in the front! If they won't take insurance, we can always sue & that should cover the cost!--------

IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom