Lawsuit: Tunkhannock doctor improperly prescribed steroids to treat tick

May 18—A Tunkhannock physician improperly prescribed massive doses of steroids to treat a woman he believed had a tick-borne illness, causing her to develop serious medical issues, according to a federal lawsuit.

Dr. Henry Lindner, 230 West Tioga St., repeatedly assured Stacey Wolking that the excessive doses of prednisone and other steroids were needed to treat her for a purported case of babesiosis — a rare disease caused when a tick bite infects the blood with a microscopic parasite, according to the suit.

The doses frequently exceeded 1,000 milligrams a day, far exceeding the dose prescribed outside a hospital setting, and caused Wolking to develop serious medical issues, including a perforated bowel, sepsis, and bone density and muscle loss, the suit says.

Lindner specializes in hormone replacement therapy, according to his website, hormonerestoration.com. He has been licensed in Pennsylvania since 1996, and has not been subjected to any disciplinary action, according to the state Board of Medicine.

The suit, filed by Philadelphia attorney Conor Lamb, also names Tunkhannock Compounding Center, the pharmacy that filled many of the prescriptions, alleging staff should have known the level of steroids was excessive. It notes Lindner directed Wolking, who lives in Virginia, to use that pharmacy, also located at 230 West Tioga St., because he was concerned her local pharmacy "might complain to his medical board."

Courtney Young, owner of Tunkhannock Compounding, declined to comment on the suit. Attempts to reach Lindner were unsuccessful.

According to the suit, Wolking began seeing Lindner in 2013, when she was 51. With the exception of one in-person visit, all consultations were by phone or email.

In June 2021, Lindner diagnosed her with babesiosis after she complained of brain fog, achiness, headaches, nausea and night sweats. Lindner made the diagnosis despite the fact that blood tests never confirmed she suffered from the disease.

Lindner initially prescribed antibiotics and later directed her to take the excessive amounts of steroids, the suit says. Wolking complied with the advice for more than a year, once taking as much as 1,848 milligrams of prednisone in a single day.

"A reasonable physician would rarely, if ever, prescribe 100 milligrams of prednisone or a corticosteroid equivalent per day to a patient outside a hospital setting ... and would begin to taper down the dosage within a few days," the suit says.

The suit says Wolking repeatedly told Lindner she suffered adverse effects, including abdominal pain, swelling, nausea and headaches that were so bad she wanted to die. He advised her she had no choice but to take the high doses, no matter what the side effects, because there was no alternative.

"Dr. Lindner knew or should have known that he was not properly knowledgeable, skilled and/or competent to treat Stacey for babesiosis, or to prescribe such unreasonably high doses of corticosteroids, and that doing so put Stacey at great and unreasonable risk of injury," the suit says.

The suit seeks damages on six counts, including negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.