I agree with the above. It bothers me that so many people think the hospital should be sued, and that this is an example of abuse. I'm not saying that such things never happen, and institutions are always blameless - not at all! - but in this case, they're essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place. The patient, when admitted, told them that she was a recovering heroin addict. The hospital is going to take that pretty seriously, and what it sounds like they did, to the letter, is follow protocol for a recovering addict.
That is to say that in the very beginning, during the acute state, they used whatever first line painkillers were necessary to get her pain under control. But knowing that she was an addict and that she wished to be "clean", the standard protocol is to reduce the narcotics as much as possible while addressing the pain with other, very strong painkillers. The flip side of the litigious argument is that I have seen, all too often, former addicts sue hospitals FOR giving them morphine and reigniting their addictions. Once the pain is under control, suddenly lots of patients are anything but grateful. They turn around and sure for OVER-prescribing. The hospital is damned if they do, damned if they don't. But since the girl stated that she was in recovery, unless she actually tells them she doesn't give a damn anymore and wants narcotics (which they may or may not address with stronger, more addictive drugs) they are going to follow the protocol of reducing opioids to avoid any long-term use.
(Most) Doctors don't hate junkies (nurses do!). Doctors hate being lied to. Doctor's HATE "advocates" who smuggle in heroin to their patients. And that kind of behaviour gives us other junkies a bad rep. Like I said, the system isn't perfect, but you can't expect to go in, lie, be completely non-compliant and break all the rules for ethical behaviour, tell them that you're in recovery (when you're taking dope in the damn hospital!) and expect they come in with a dessert cart of morphine, Dilaudid and fentanyl on silver platters.
You may honestly not know why they banned you, but based on your actions they had deemed you to be a risk to the patient, someone they could not trust and someone who would compromise her recovery. And you proved them right.
I have a lot of sympathy for the young woman...being in pain is terrible. But the situation has become so convoluted that her care has absolutely been compromised. And I'm afraid that simply blaming the hospital isn't the way to go.
And honestly, if your fiancee, whom I'm sure you love, really wants to get clean...why are you bringing her dope? Not only are you risking her arrest and yours, ruining the treatment she receives by creating this drama and suspicion (seriously...ever heard of Blake Fielder-Civil...Blake? Is it you?)
and possibly putting her in grave danger because of the other medications she receives, but this could be an incredible opportunity for her to get clean. The Dilaudid she receives should keep her out of withdrawal (and probably, if she had a better relationship with the staff and they understood the situation, they would likely help her out with any withdrawal she experienced...it's common enough in hospitals). She's hydrated, not expected to do much, and able to rest. This could be a wonderful time for her to get in control of her addiction. It's never too late to try to take good care of a loved one.
