Shamseldin Joseph A MD

«Dr.» Joseph Shamseldin’s negligent care almost cost me my life and has left me permanently disabled. I went to see him with a minor knee injury. After weeks went on, I didn’t have any improvement in my knee injury, but what concerned me more was that soon my entire leg was hot, swollen and red. I became really concerned as things got progressively worse. It got to the point where I could no longer bend my leg, and I needed crutches to walk. My leg also began to swell. I repeatedly asked about these symptoms, and he had no answer for why this was happening to me, when all I had was a partially dislocated knee cap.
I kept going in for appointments, and eventually became so desperate that I started calling Dr. Shamseldin on the phone, because I was so frightened and in so much pain. During one phone call, he told me that he had «important patients with serious conditions that demanded his attention.» I was pretty horrified, but at this point I needed crutches to walk and was in so much pain, I didn’t seek out another doctor. Things escalated with my health care, and finally, I had a fainting episode in my home. This led me to call him once again. I’ll never forget his advice. He said «you are probably having a panic attack from pain. Take some pain medication.»
In reality, what had happened is I had developed a massive blood clot (DVT) in my leg which ran from my groin all the way to my toes. The fainting spell was actually me having a Pulmonary Embolism (blood clots being thrown from your leg to your lungs). FINALLY, Dr. Shamseldin called me of is own accord a few days later. He said that ANOTHER DOCTOR had advised him to call me in to get an ultrasound on my leg. During this ultrasound, they found the blood clotting and I was immediately admitted into Swedish Hospital intensive care. I had a major Pulmonary Emboli. If I had been at home and not in the hospital, I would have died. I nearly died IN the hospital.
Dr. Shamseldin briefly came to see me in the hospital. He made a lame apology, and explained to me that his wife was suffering from Cancer. I told him if he was not in the condition to take patients, that he should have taken a leave of absence. He promptly cancelled the appointment I had previously scheduled with him, and that was the last I saw of him. Unfortunately, my recovery took years and I didn’t have the support or resources to take action against him.
The deep veins in my leg are ruined, and I have pain every day of my life. I suffer from Post Thrombotic Syndrome. It’s hard for me to walk for any great length of time, and I can’t stand up for hours at a time like I used to. Because I can no longer stand for an 8 hour work shift, I lost my previous career. I was only 33 when this happened, and now I’m 40. I have lost so much from this situation, it’s incalculable. I’m sure he doesn’t remember me. But I think of him every day as I suffer in pain, and can’t enjoy life the way I used to. I used to be a strong, healthy person, without any physical handicaps. I’m convinced that any other doctor would never have ignored all those symptoms, and would have quickly diagnosed my issue before it became life threatening. I think Swedish is a broken health care system, riddled with negligent doctors like Dr. Shamseldin. I’ve had more than one negative experience dealing with their healthcare providers.