"Podiatrist causing injury and not taking responsibility"

My original orthotics many years ago were from Subiaco and were a godsend addressing my postural issues. Unfortunately I was to lose these and move from the area. So many years later I attend a certain podiatrist service and provide them with all past relevant medical details and history, very comprehensively, assuming they would be a competent medical professional and would be able to take and assess such historical information together with a thorough current assessment, and then prescribe the most suitable and appropriate required treatment. 

I believe I turned out to be very wrong in this simple taken-for-granted assumption. In my opinion, I was very wrong and dangerously so. The podiatrist simply took the historical information I provided (such as previously wearing an insert in my left orthotic), and replicated it. I then naturally assumed because they are the doctor, and "knows what they are doing" that I must still require the insert, and that it is medically appropriate for me based on the current assessment. 

This turned out to be very wrong. 9 months go by and I am gradually experiencing more and more pain, in my lower back and neck particularly. I am not sure why and cannot connect it to anything. I return to the podiatrist several times complaining of worsening pain. My concerns are seemingly dismissed and not taken seriously enough and waved away as due to some other, unknown unrelated cause. In one session the consulting podiatrist does a hip level test and seeing that my hips are not level determines I actually require even more of an insert (!). This is put in and the pain continues and gets so bad that I suffer a neck injury. However I am not aware of the cause or nature of my injury, it is very very very difficult to be able to think straight or very coherently when in excruciating chronic pain.

I see my GP many times with this problem who only ever prescribes me painkillers each time and makes no further attempt to investigate the cause. I see every healthcare specialist I can find and spend 1000s of $$$ desperately trying to find a solution. Physiotherapists, acupuncture, chinese herbs, pain specialists, you name it. All to no avail with only minor surface relief at best. 

Eventually in a chance encounter with a med student, he recommends getting an MRI. I think what a great idea, why didn't I think of that (chronic debilitating pain affects clarity of thought)? I go back and request this from my GP whom I begin to think requires prodding from me to be effective, which also requires me to know what is wrong with myself. This is the challenge, to actually be one's own doctor too. The MRI shows a trapped nerve in the neck vertebrae which appears as a very plausible and likely cause of my pain. I request a chiropractor referral. Within 8 sessions I am cured and my pain levels drop from 9/10 to 2/10. Also the chiropractors treatment causes my back muscles to relax and instantly by leg lengthens - which points to what I understand to be the podiatrist's original misdiagnosis of what was actually a chronic muscular contraction pulling up the leg as a structural-skeletal abberation. In other words, they saw one leg was shorter than the other, the hips were not level, and prescribed an insert assuming this issue was structural, which would have been relevant if this was actually the case. Since my issue was due to chronic muscular contraction instead, his treatment only caused much more pain and suffering.

The worst part of this was they refused to take any responsibility or admit any wrongdoing whatsoever. The closest they would come to was a partial refund of the orthotics (which were very expensive) but only if I signed a waiver absolving them of any possible wrongdoing. Naturally, I declined. I was originally going to report them to AHPRA but after my ordeal I was tired and miserable and didn't need the added stress and simply wanted to get on with my life.