Ever Been Fucked Around by the Emergency Room? I Need Your Story

[tothworld]

I'm thinking of writing a nonfiction account of the way emergency rooms harass and abuse and deny treatment not only to drug users but the mentally ill and, of course, those who use drugs and also have mental illness. This is not only about addiction. You may have fallen off a ladder and been labeled a "drug seeker" because you tried to get pain relief from the ER.

If I can collect enough stories, I can put together a book proposal. I have the background and connections. I'd like to get this story out there because the media wholeheartedly agrees with the ER bouncing people, so long as they're not related to the media.

But this is about you. Been screwed by the ER? Tell me your story on the survey at the link below. There are about five quick questions. The rest is simply room for you to explain up to five separate incidents of ER abuse.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YKQCN7L

Please share this link, especially with those you know who've suffered the ER routine.

Non-U.S. citizens are encouraged to take the survey, too. There will be an international aspect. How big is yet to be determined, but it will play a part.

MOD NOTE: no names of specific hospitals OR staff please so this can stay open. Thank you.

 

[lovegluegunnin]

I once went to the ER because I was having problems where I would randomly pass out when I was 13-14, and my nurse/tech person in the ER could not draw blood for shit. She poked me a good 10-15 times before she let someone more experienced try their hand at it, because I have deep veins. I understand having a little trouble, but come fucking on. She then tripped over my heart monitor cord and didn't plug it back in. No one even came to check on me for 6 hours. After that, all they did was send me home and tell me I had a heart arrhythmia.

 

[RobotRipping]

i'll have to share later on ur link but ive been to the ER about 10 times either almost dying in benzo w/d, having panic attacks or straight up telling them i was going to kill myself and ended up leaving about 4-6 hours later. They didn't even try to stop me. Just 2 weeks ago i was on an unknown amount of DXM mixed with whatever drugs i could find, couldn't walk/talk/see properly, told them i wasn't safe and ended up walking out.

IMO fuck the system, it's broke, the only help is the help you find yourself.

 

[ad lib]

MOD NOTE: no names of specific hospitals OR staff please so this can stay open. Thank you.

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

Having only been through the hospital system a handful of times, and all of them being severe, I've been screwed around every time because of my appearance (not medical history). I'll get around to answering the questionnaire later.

As mentioned above, please no specific information such as names of staff or hospitals. While this account may bring much needed attention to the downfalls of the medical system, naming and shaming of institutions is not something we wish for Bluelight to be affiliated with. I've also edited it into the OP.

 

[plmar]

I once went to the ER because I was having problems where I would randomly pass out when I was 13-14, and my nurse/tech person in the ER could not draw blood for shit. She poked me a good 10-15 times before she let someone more experienced try their hand at it, because I have deep veins. I understand having a little trouble, but come fucking on. She then tripped over my heart monitor cord and didn't plug it back in. No one even came to check on me for 6 hours. After that, all they did was send me home and tell me I had a heart arrhythmia.

fuck that would have pissed me off
after one hour i'd probably just have fuckd out of there

 

[neversickanymore]

ER's are inundated with people looking for drugs. This causes many ER doctors to become suspicious and jaded toward people who are looking for pain relief. Also Mental health Illnesses are a very frustrating conditions as we who suffer from them know and this frustration is often shared by the medical community. The use of psychiatric drugs should be monitored by a psychiatric professional and the ER is not the place to be seen for Psychiatric reasons. The practice of making it hard and a pain in the ass to get narcotics in the ER is absolutely designed as If a specific ER or doctor starts dispensing Pain medications with little hassle then the patients just continue to come back and the word spreads throughout the community of people who require pain medications. Long term pain medication is something that should be addressed through a persons GP or a pain specialist.

So I think the main root to people who are needing pain medications and mental health sufferers, as well as the ER physicians who are required to see these people, is that the medical system in the united states is broken. The mental heath services are really expensive and their isn't nearly enough of them. This causes people to seek help in a location that isn't designed or capable of giving them the care they desire and need. Also the pain manigment system is also way to expensive. After visiting a pain Dr and seeing what they charged for a five minute visit I came to the conclusion that they were making at least 15000 dollars a day and I actually concluded that they were making 30000 but after taxes and other expenses I thought they were likely taking home 15000 a day. So unfortunately the greed of the medical community has become so large that care is excluded to a large portion of people who need it and this causes many people to be forced to use the ER for things that it isn't designed for.

In a twelve hour shift at an ER it isn't uncommon for 10-20 people to come in looking for pain medications. Also as people come in all the time claiming one thing, like that they have really bad abdominal pain and would like pain medication, but when a blood draw is performed to check for reasons for the abdominal pain then track marks are revealed. Instances like this happen daily in the ER and ER physicians are lied to daily by people who are looking to get the drugs they need. This screams that there needs to be much better addiction services. It shouldn't cost people an arm and a leg to get on methadone or suboxone but it does and It comes down to the greedy medical community.

So In defense of the ER and its staff.. it isn't a good place to get help with a mental health problem or get psychiatric medications and if we had anywhere close to a good mental health system it would not be the place where many people were forced to go. The ER is literally flooded with people looking for narcotics and these people are forced to lie to the staff in order to try and receive the drugs they need. This causes resentment between the Physicians and the patients and the system needs to be changed. If Dr were allowed to prescribe narcotics to narcotic addicts to treat their addictions then this situation would disappear. but as yet the retarded government is still spending so much money, that could go to a much better mental health system for one, on a utterly failed drug, while its crazy policies make the world such a pain in the ass for addicts, patients, and Dr alike.

It seems like the government is unable to change at this point so I suggest that you take a minute and write a well thought out letter to a representative from your area asking for a much better mental health system, the human and decent treatment of addicts and drug users, the end to the utterly failed drug war and the release of it prisoners of war, and the revamping of the health care system.

 

[Felonious Monk]

IMO fuck the system, it's broke, the only help is the help you find yourself.

So In defense of the ER and its staff.. it isn't a good place to get help with a mental health problem or get psychiatric medications and if we had anywhere close to a good mental health system it would not be the place where many people were forced to go. The ER is literally flooded with people looking for narcotics and these people are forced to lie to the staff in order to try and receive the drugs they need. This causes resentment between the Physicians and the patients and the system needs to be changed. If Dr were allowed to prescribe narcotics to narcotic addicts to treat their addictions then this situation would disappear. but as yet the retarded government is still spending so much money, that could go to a much better mental health system for one, on a utterly failed drug, while its crazy policies make the world such a pain in the ass for addicts, patients, and Dr alike.

It seems like the government is unable to change at this point so I suggest that you take a minute and write a well thought out letter to a representative from your area asking for a much better mental health system, the human and decent treatment of addicts and drug users, the end to the utterly failed drug war and the release of it prisoners of war, and the revamping of the health care system.

You're both right, the goddam Harrison Act, 99 years ago, can't prescribe drugs to addicts. And that's all ERs are looking for, they're just trying to keep people moving. It's just not a place to find care, and if you can do anything you should try to avoid going there and saving your money for doctors you can build a relationship with.

I've been to the ER a few times in the last few years for GI issues, including severe pain, but I refuse to go now because they won't do anything to actually help, because I don't have a diagnosis yet (my disease hasn't progressed to a diagnosable level because I eat well and maintain--how fucked up is it that I'd have to allow myself to get sicker to get treatment?). Anyway, last time I saw my (now former) GI doc I was so sick he told me to go to the ER but I refused and drove myself home because it would have been a waste of time. I just need to take an EMT class to learn how to place my own IV for fluids, that's all they ever do in the hospital...

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

It's just not a place to find care

That's bullshit. The job of an ER is to provide care in the event that a GP cannot be accessed/their injuries are beyond the care a GP can provide.

But it's not just the US system that is fucked. On 4 separate occasions (3 being moderate to severe motor accidents and one being a broken foot) I have been denied pain care. I have nothing on my medical record to assume that I'm a drug seeker and it was all based on their personal opinion.

Broken foot? Just take a paracetamol. .
Severe car accident that has left you needing surgery on your shoulder? Just take paracetamol.
2nd severe car accident that left you unable to walk for a period? Nah you can't feel your legs, just take paracetamol. It wasn't until I complained to the police attending to take my story on the crash that they gave me anything more than Panadol. And that was 3 hours after I was taken in because the ER staff left me laying there for hours, seemingly forgetting that they had a job to do.

This latest car accident was the only one they've given me anything for right off the bat.

 

[skittlesxo]

Once I took 3 bad E pills that were not tested. I ended up really fucked up. It felt like my skin was burning..on fire.I was hallucinating, was slipping in and out of consciousness, I was extremely disoriented.I couldn't see properly,I couldnt stand up, a lot of things went wrong that night. I was in so much pain I tried to pray to God that he would let me die..it was that bad.Well My boyfriend called 911, the ambulance came and took me to the ER. They put me in a hospital bed and hooked up up to a heart monitor, my heart rate was realy high my boyfriend told me.But thats all they did.They never hooked me up to any IVs.I was tossing and turning in pain, screaming I didnt know what was exactly going on and I remember that no one came and checked on me except when I was screaming one bitch of a nurse told me to shut up, I was in a hospital and people were sleeping. After 7 hours of just staying in the bed with no IVs praying to die. I felt a little better and a doctor asked if I could go home, I said No I was still really fucked up and he said I had no choice that I had to leave.I was pissed cause I was in no condition to leave AT ALL.When I thought about it afterwards I came to the conclusion that my perception is that I was really being judged for taking those drugs and no one cared.
Also one time I took like 3000 mgs of seroquel hoping to kill myself and before the pills hit me my bf drove me to the ER.I remember 2 men undressing me and touching me. I know this for a fucking fact I was sexually assaulted. When I complained and told the medical association they dismissed this because they knew my history of drugs and because I told them I was a stripper.
Another time I was raped and went to the ER for a rape testing to be done and they refused because I was high.
And plenty of times when I OD I was treated like shit, just because.

Do not know if these stories really count but those were my experiences.

 

[T. Calderone]

Wow skittlesxo, that sucks you were groped by those guys and nothing was done about it. Of course they were judging you because of drugs. Once you're labeled a drug abuser, your records are flagged and you will have a hard time getting ER doctors to take you seriously when you actually are sick. I had some bad experiences in the past and I know it's because of mental health and drug issues from previous visits. It is fucked up system but I did get pretty sick last year when I had a stroke. They were awesome and treated me like a regular person which was surprising because I was so accustomed to them shooing me out.

 

[Spadez87]

I'm thinking of writing a nonfiction account of the way emergency rooms harass and abuse and deny treatment not only to drug users but the mentally ill and, of course, those who use drugs and also have mental illness. This is not only about addiction. You may have fallen off a ladder and been labeled a "drug seeker" because you tried to get pain relief from the ER.

If I can collect enough stories, I can put together a book proposal. I have the background and connections. I'd like to get this story out there because the media wholeheartedly agrees with the ER bouncing people, so long as they're not related to the media.

But this is about you. Been screwed by the ER? Tell me your story on the survey at the link below. There are about five quick questions. The rest is simply room for you to explain up to five separate incidents of ER abuse.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YKQCN7L

Please share this link, especially with those you know who've suffered the ER routine.

Non-U.S. citizens are encouraged to take the survey, too. There will be an international aspect. How big is yet to be determined, but it will play a part.

I'm Canadian. Went to my local ER in one of the biggest if not the biggest city in Canada. I told them I had a 180 mg a day Valium habit. They looked at me with disgust and woundnt take me into the psychward. Also no rehab in the area they called would take me. This is because my dose was way to high and I was a libility I was told and would have to taper down to a normal dose to he admitted.... I was just like so if I don't grandmal and die getting my does down to 40 mg you will take me??? This was jan 2013. They sent me on my way and I am down to a stable 10 mg. I did it on my own.

In short doctors and hospitals are useless for some problems and sometimes help does not exist.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Yeah I've got a story. I will share letter after I get more perspective.

 

[cj]

I'm Canadian. Went to my local ER in one of the biggest if not the biggest city in Canada. I told them I had a 180 mg a day Valium habit. They looked at me with disgust and woundnt take me into the psychward. Also no rehab in the area they called would take me. This is because my dose was way to high and I was a libility I was told and would have to taper down to a normal dose to he admitted.... I was just like so if I don't grandmal and die getting my does down to 40 mg you will take me??? This was jan 2013. They sent me on my way and I am down to a stable 10 mg. I did it on my own.

In short doctors and hospitals are useless for some problems and sometimes help does not exist.

Did they at least set you up a taper schedule and write you the neccesary prescription for valium to accomplish it.

 

[Maya]

Last year I went to emergency rooms three times due to panic attacks and I think I still went early January this year. I mentioned to the doctor and nurses that I was a recreational user of drugs and that the untested mdma I took was probably still giving me the symptoms I suffer from. They made me wait for a veryyy looong time and I kinda felt that this is because I told them that I was using drugs and that in their eyes I was just a useless drug addict who is probably still high etc etc. I even saw some of them laughing and then looking at me like I was some type of idiot.

After waiting for a very long time the doctor came to attend to me and told me that all the results are good and that I was probably just paranoid. I asked him more questions about the possibility that it was still probably because if the mdma but he brushed it off and told me to take ativan and go home. I flushed the ativan and told myself alright I don't need this.

I found that clinic doctors were more compassionate and even the medical office assistants act better than those nurses in hospitals. So the next day, I went to a clinic and the doctor was very informative and helpful and even told me to see a neurologist just to make sure that we are not missing anything.

 

[dopemaster]

I had a doctor at a hospital refuse to treat me for an infection unless I would admit to IV drug use. He also refused to run a pic line through tattoos and it ended up in my neck. Ironically enough they gave me some Dialudid but it was a rather weak dosage.

Anyways by the time I got home from the hospital my temperature was even higher. I ended up at another hospital. I was only able to stay less than 24 hours before being released despite trying to appeal it. I had not been there 24 hours yet and had no legal rights. I turned out ok, but it really just made it take longer to recover.

I was in drastic pain and I informed the doctor. He said "I know you are in pain, normally I would be giving you IV morphine, but since you are a drug user I think the pain is neccesary." He also wrote letters to every doctor who ever wrote me a prescription in the last few years.

Its not that big of a deal, but I am pretty sure I would have to change pain doctors if I were to want to get pain medication again.

 

[ad lib]

I had a doctor at a hospital refuse to treat me for an infection unless I would admit to IV drug use. He also refused to run a pic line through tattoos and it ended up in my neck. Ironically enough they gave me some Dialudid but it was a rather weak dosage.

What the fuck?

Anyways by the time I got home from the hospital my temperature was even higher. I ended up at another hospital. I was only able to stay less than 24 hours before being released despite trying to appeal it. I had not been there 24 hours yet and had no legal rights. I turned out ok, but it really just made it take longer to recover.

I was in drastic pain and I informed the doctor. He said "I know you are in pain, normally I would be giving you IV morphine, but since you are a drug user I think the pain is neccesary." He also wrote letters to every doctor who ever wrote me a prescription in the last few years.

Its not that big of a deal, but I am pretty sure I would have to change pain doctors if I were to want to get pain medication again.

That is ridiculous...

 

[T. Calderone]

Damn DM they wouldn't put a iv in over your tattoos? That's crazy and the part about having a raging infection, yet not admitting you is awful. "Normally I would be giving you iv morphine, but since you are a drug user I think the pain is necessary" May as well say "This will teach you a lesson not to mess with drugs son". Holy crap, just when I thought I've heard everything..I'm sorry you had to endure that.

 

[ad lib]

Ever Been Fucked Around by the Emergency Room? I Need Your Story

Yes. Yes I have. I would post but it's too incriminating and if anyone in my personal life read it they'd know it was me.

I don't know what's wrong with some "healthcare professionals". Aren't they supposed to be sympathetic? Caring? Compassionate? In my experience ive witnessed all kinds, plus I work in that field. Some of the shit medical staff say behind patients backs makes me sick.

 

[dopemaster]

Damn DM they wouldn't put a iv in over your tattoos? That's crazy and the part about having a raging infection, yet not admitting you is awful. "Normally I would be giving you iv morphine, but since you are a drug user I think the pain is necessary" May as well say "This will teach you a lesson not to mess with drugs son". Holy crap, just when I thought I've heard everything..I'm sorry you had to endure that.

It turned out ok. After asking them to take the pic line out my neck for several hours I started messing with it myself. They kept saying they needed to give me dilaudid and I am like fuck your dilaudid I want this out my neck. They used that whole you have meds ordered shit to keep that in my neck for like 3 hours. The dilaudid did fuck all because what I needed was antibiotics.

I went to another hospital. I pretty much drove straight there and stopped at my parents to drink some fluids and eat. I went to the other hospital and they got this new policy called a 24 hour observation to determine if you need a hospital stay. Of course I was given a clean bill of health and ordered to be released. I could not appeal because I had not stayed 24 hours.

It was so fucked the nurse actually helped me out and delayed my pain meds so I could stay for another round of IV antibiotics. She pretty much told me thats how she was gonna play it. My mom brought me some of my rx so I was not too bad.

They wanted me in and out and to send me home with a script for pills when I had an abcess. I asked her if she could help me stay as long as possible and she agreed 100 percent and said she was really surprised they were kicking me out. I was lucky I did not end back up in the ER or dead. I was also lucky the nurse helped me get a few more rounds of IV antibiotics. I would file a formal complaint, but I honestly think they would give the doctor a raise for minimizing the bill to the hospital.

If you have not had an abcess I can tell you what it is like. You have a temperature of 103 or so. Your arm literally feels like it is falling off. Your arm is also 3 times its normal size. If you have any scars they feel like they are ripping and in my case my abcess burst at a scar. I have had two.

The first one I stayed 8 days and went home healthy. It was so different. The doctor told me I should have a long stay and that I was not going home until I was completely healthy. It was quite the opposite this last time. It was like you will manage and if not just come back.

The second one was just as nasty, but I had to take care of myself. I was begging the doctor to stay in the hospital and asked him not to send me home with an infection. The most fucked up part was he was training two med students that day. I hope they do not think that is good bed side manner.

Afterwards they sent a shrink in and he asked me the usual stuff they ask. Are you thinking of harming yourself or others. What a stupid question. Of course everyone is gonna say no unless they enjoy psych wards and never owning a gun again for the rest of their life. I was kind of thinking I would like to beat some manners into the doctor that kicked me out, but I obviously did not mention that.

They always ask shit like if you have unprotected sex, share needles, how many people you fuck, and if you are a homosexual or not. That type of stuff. I am thinking dude fuck off and let me be, I am not really in good shape. I don't have unprotected sex or use/share needles and am not gay. Its easier to just tell them that before they ask. Now I am not knocking gay people, but they will demand you have an aids test. Such bullshit. They do fuckall in terms of helping people.

I feel sorry for people who go home ill and stay sick and then get hit with a couple thousand dollar bill they are never going to be able to pay. I got better. Thing is I did everything I could from eating as much as possible to not smoking any cigarettes and taking vitamins and sleeping and resting and all that stuff. I also had someone there to take care of me and if I had not had any help I may not have recovered.

I guess now healthcare is about providing as little treatment as possible. Also doctors seem to reward you with narcotics if you make the visit short.