Anonymous
Apr 4, 2022
I visited ONYX Urgent Care on Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at approximately 6:30pm. I was experiencing severe back pain radiating into my stomach however with COVID wreaking havoc on our hospitals I decided it was better to visit urgent care than the hospital.
When I arrived and checked in I was the only patient there. I was impressed as I hadn’t even sat down in the waiting room before a nurse came to get me. I explained my pain to her and she was very kind and validating as she took my weight and vitals. I did not get her name sadly.
Unfortunately that is the last good thing I can say about my visit. Dr Ameet Karaul stood in the doorway the entire appointment with his hand on the door handle. He was dismissive, and only briefly came over to run his hand along my spine to ask where my pain was. I explained my pain and he repeatedly talked over me to ask me if I had a fall or knew how I would have injured myself, to which I honestly answered no. He told me that given my age (28) and because I did not know how I injured myself, I should get massages and do physiotherapy. I was unimpressed with this answer and felt neglected but didn’t have time to express this as he said he’d write me a referral for physiotherapy and he abruptly left. At the desk the receptionist gave me a prescription he also wrote for a muscle relaxant. I had this filled and left. My urgent care visit lasted 10 minutes.
I did do physiotherapy. I had 5 appointments. Despite being furious over the doctor’s lack of attentiveness, my pain did subside (more on that later). The physiotherapist thought it was likely a costovertebral joint disorder and treated it as such. And I did biweekly massages, but this is no credit to Dr Karaul as I was doing these prior to.
This previous Thursday night my pain returned, in the exact same area, but it was so bad that I was vomiting. I went to Grand River hospital where I was actually taken seriously and bloodwork, an ultrasound, and an X-ray were ordered. I was seen promptly by a surgeon who told me I needed my gallbladder removed immediately and I was admitted to the hospital. When I explained to the surgeon what Dr Karaul said, the surgeon said it was ridiculous and had any tests been ordered back in January I could have had this diagnosed and dealt with then and saved myself a great deal of pain from my gallbladder attacks (this is why the pain was subsiding and returning, it was not due to the physiotherapy).
I understand I am a 28 year old woman and I am in good health, but just because I am young this does not mean any pain I have is trivial. It is absolutely unacceptable that young people, primarily young women, are so easily brushed off when we seek treatment. We rely on doctors to help us, yet it is so common to be looked over. I am outraged at this doctor and I don’t even want to refer to him as such. Back pain during the night is a sign of spinal cancer. What if it was that? 2 months can be a long time when it comes to severe illnesses. How would Dr Karaul feel if he knew that his negligence took away the 28 year old mother of an 8 and 4 year old? Does the care he provided me on January 26th align with the Hippocratic Oath he would have sworn to? I am fortunate that it was only my gallbladder but this is no thanks to Dr Karaul.
Part of me wonders if this could be Hanlon’s razor which is an adage that states to "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”. Regardless of intent, this was neglect and although perhaps nothing will come of this, it will not be because I sat back and did nothing. So this review will be posted on every review site and forum for Onyx Urgent Care and I will be lodging a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). This is not out of a personal need for vengeance against Dr Karaul but a firm belief that this mistake should never be made again and perhaps he needs to be reminded of the formal education he received and swore to abide by.
