"Cough medicines obviously didn't cure sinuses, so I went back," Kay says.

The next doctor prescribed an antibiotic as well as Tylenol with codeine, she says.

"I went to get the prescription filled, but he didn't specify the quantity," she says.

When she finally got the filled prescription and took it home, Kay says she noticed that it contained Ceclor, an antibiotic related to the penicillin family of drugs, which she is allergic to.

Although it was stated in her medical record and she had repeatedly told both her doctor and the UHS pharmacist of her allergic reaction to Ceclor, Kay says none of the UHS officials had bothered to take notice.

"UHS pharmacy said we realized we gave you the wrong thing [but] we didn't have your number," Kay says. "I could have been choking to death and then they lie and say they tried to call. I'm never going back."

Grace K. L. Kataburuki '99 experienced a similar encouter with an absentminded doctor.

"Basically, my prescription for painkillers following the removal of my wisdom teeth wasn't working," Kataburuki says. "I went in for a new prescription. My chart says I'm allergic to Tylenol. Early in the appointment, I told the guy I was allergic to Tylenol. When he gave me a prescription, I asked if he was sure this wouldn't be complicated by my allergy to Tylenol. He said no."

But 20 minutes after Kataburuki took the Tylenol prescription with her lunch, she says, "welts started coming up on my face like they do when I'm having a Tylenol reaction."

"I called UHS thinking I'd discovered a new drug I was allergic to because of course they would never have prescribed Tylenol," she says. "The guy finally checks his desk reference only to discover he prescribed the generic equivalent of Tylenol 3."

Kataburuki says she drank gallons of water to get rid of the welts and became sick to her stomach.

"I got the patient advocate to get the prescription taken off of my term bill, but I never did get a real apology, and...some people have much more serious reactions than mine," she says.

Malan says that he has never had much confidence in UHS personnel. "Personally, I have felt that the physicians and nurses I have seen there are not the best in the field," he says.

However, Rosenthal notes, "the staff here is very qualified." He adds that UHS handles more than 45,000 primary-care visits each year.

Michael, who was a graduate student at the Harvard School of Public Health before she began working at UHS, says that she had only positive experiences with UHS while she was a student.