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Clinic/ER screw up= Police Misconduct?

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TruAdvocate

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? MI

My friend "Janis" goes alone to the local ER/clinic, she's new in town just moved in and has no primary physician at this time. She suffers from chronic back pain, disk problems and such. After she gets all moved in into her new home her pain gets worse. I convince her to go to the local ER. She gets treated like a "druggy", she has a couple of tattoo's, eyebrow and nose pierced. But all in all not a person who would appear as a "druggy" to me. Anyway, "Dr. Nastypants" gives her Flexeril, tells her the pain is mostly in her head and she'll be ok someday when she gets right upstairs and sends her on her way. "BTW nice tattoos, why would you do that to your body?" All she really wanted was to see if she had hurt herself while moving she tries not to take pain meds mostly because she has a bad reaction to aspirin and told "Dr. Nastypant's" Nuse that information upon being asessed. No tests were done on her back but thats really not all that unusual for this or any ER. Two days later a friend of ours "Donna" tries to get "Janis" to go back to the ER because she was not only in pain but now half of her body was going numb, it was quite scary. So they go together "Janis" and "Donna" to the ER I drop them off and the hospital and runs some errands. Now I have to say that "Donna" probably wasn't the best person to send along with "Janis" for she has a shady history of using drugs, but only those prescribed to her, she found an idiot Dr. that will write scripts for anything you ask for. Into the Clinic/ER; "Donna" is asked to wait outside. Newer, younger, "Dr. Feelgood" comes along and states diagnosis of sciatica, and brings out the script pad. "Dr. Feelgood" orders a 60mg Toradol IM injection followed by a 10mg Decadron IM injection, then writes for Vicodin 500mg 2 tabs q 4 hrs, Prednisone, tapering dose, and she still has the script for flexeril that she hasn't filled yet. "Dr. Feelgood" shoots her up, sends her on her way. I come back to pick them up and she's flat out stoned. I asked her whats up, she tells me what happend and starts to feel sick. I get her home, for two days she's completely wasted, she's trying to take her pills like the bottles say but can't even make her own coffee. Three days later she gets up late, has to hurry to get her kid on the bus she's so unsteady she falls right on her kid in his bed. The kids ok, but she's wrecked, she can't think, she's freakin out a little bit, she thinks she fell because her side went numb and her meds aren't working for her. It's pill time again, right after the kid went to school, so she opens her purse, grabs a plastic baggy with pills in it (2 Soma, 1 Ativan) (not the pills she's supposed to take)and takes em. 10 min later someones calling an ambulance for her, she can't stop crying, she can't walk, she can't talk, starts to drool a little. Off to the hospital, they kept her in ICU for observation but only had to treat her for a UTI, they did nothing for the "overdose", probably couldn't do anything but watch her anyway. Point is, it wasn't as bad as some overdoses, yet they kept her overnight to keep an eye on her which I'm very happy about. Thing is, "Janis" has no recollection of these events, she's lost like 5 days of memory. She thinks she's had those pills in the pocket of her purse for about six months, says she knew they were in there, a friend gave em too her long ago but she didn't want to take them because pills make her sick. Now.. I'm not naive nor am I stupid and I do believe what she is telling me. So benefit of the doubt here please.. We called 911 for her, told them she had back pain needs to go to the hospital, can't move legs that well. EMT's took her to the hospital,when they got out they called dispatch to report, while on the phone EMT tells dispatch that call was for overdose. Dispatch supervisor on duty happens to be married to "Cheif Blowhard", "Officer Woody's" boss. Mrs."Cheif Blowhard" calls her hubby and tells him the news about the overdose. Meanwhile, back at the ER "Dr. Nastypants" was in this really didn't help as "Officer Woody" shows up later to investigate the "overdose". "Dr. Nastypants" states to "Officer Woody" he thinks she sells or trades her drugs for other drugs. I can imagine this is a safe assumption considering the situation, but it's not exactly true, nor is "Dr.Nastypants" a investigator. So, "Officer Woody" gets "Janis" to sign a medical record release form, he fills it out, the nurse takes it to her, and she signs it. Right after she signs it she asks "what time is it", "Officer Woody" replies 10:40, "Janis" freaks out, "I have to get home to put my kids to bed... " Officer Woody" replies, it's 10:40 in the morning your kids are still at school.. Then continues to question her. This is a little past 2 hours after she was taken into the hospital. "Officer Woddy" interviews her again in the hospital the next morning, she tells him I don't remember what happened. "Officer Woody" then interviews her ex husband, her two daughters at their school, her ex boyfriend, her friends an god knows who else.. So far he's come up empty handed because you see "janis" has no history of drug usage prescribed or not. My question is do you think he can arrest her for this "overdose". Any malpractice on the part of the hospital, mixing meds, alleries? I have a problem with this "overdose" because she was so screwed up from the moment she got those injections until days after the "overdose" and breach of confidentiality by EMT's, hospital etc... I appreciate all views. Thanks so much... Tilly
 


loveumms

Member
Sounds like your friend may need some help. If she had pills in her purse that were not prescribed to her (i.e. given to her by a friend) and those pills happened to be Ativan (a controlled substance) she could be in trouble. On the bottle of any benzo it says "it is against federal law to dispense this medication to anyone except the person it was prescribed for". Hence, it is a federal crime to give a friend this medication as it is a federal crime to take this medication if it was not prescribed to you.

Unfortunately, many ER docs have become jaded - especially towards chronic pain patients - b/c they have to deal with people who are seeking drugs every day all day (not saying that your friend was doing this). It doesn't sound like the doctors did anything wrong ... remember Dr. Nasty can treat patients based on his clinical judgment and if he didn't think your friend needed medicine then he doesn't have to prescribe it. If the other doctor felt she needed steroids and a toradol injection then it was likely b/c she was in so much pain. If she didn't disclose to him that she was already taking medications then really it was her fault. Ativan, and all the benzos, cause amnesia so if she was taking this for a prolonged time she might have the memory loss due to that medication. Narcotics can also cause people to loose pieces of their memory, especially when taken frequently.

Your friend can not blame the hospital, EMTs or police for taken medicines that were not prescribed to her and basically that is why she got the diagnosis of OD. If she only took the medicines the doc prescribed, and took them appropriately (one to two pills every four hours AS NEEDED) this may have not occurred. It is unfortunate that your friend had to go through this but, it might be a good lesson.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Tilly?
You need to use paragraphs, it is next to impossible to read your rambling post.
There is no cause of action.
If your friend has ADR for Asprin, then the 1st doc @ the ER was correct to give her Flexeril, it was apropriate for her overuse injuries from moving and she should have been taking is easy so she could recover.
Most people with chronic pain arrange for continuing care when they move and her previous doctor should have still been able to assist her in receiving care at the new loctiton, so there is something wrong when she turns up at the ER claiming she needs something stronger than Asprin for pain.
The can examin the patient by observation, if she had certain range of motion then that was all the doctor needed to do to tell that her complaint was more psychological than physical.
As stated, your friend should not be taking medication prescribed for someone else, another indiator that she has some substance related problems in taking other's Rx and not having or calling her regular doc.
I suspect that the 2nd doc was not informed of her Asprin ADRs in order to get stronger Rx, which she got and made worse by taking the illegal Rx rather than filling the Rx for Flexeril.
Yes a person covered in Tatts and body piercings and seeking drugs then presenting with an overdose or ADR because she failed to inform the Doc of her history is very suspetious. Last of all, excessive body art can lead to complications and increased risks or allergic reactions both at the initial application or later. If your friend had skin or bleeding reactions to Aspirn, it may take very little in the future to cause reactions or infections.
 

ellencee

Senior Member
TruAdvocate said:
What is the name of your state? MI

My friend "Janis" goes alone to the local ER/clinic, she's new in town just moved in and has no primary physician at this time. She suffers from chronic back pain, disk problems and such. After she gets all moved in into her new home her pain gets worse. I convince her to go to the local ER. She gets treated like a "druggy", she has a couple of tattoo's, eyebrow and nose pierced. But all in all not a person who would appear as a "druggy" to me. Anyway, "Dr. Nastypants" gives her Flexeril, tells her the pain is mostly in her head and she'll be ok someday when she gets right upstairs and sends her on her way. "BTW nice tattoos, why would you do that to your body?" All she really wanted was to see if she had hurt herself while moving she tries not to take pain meds mostly because she has a bad reaction to aspirin and told "Dr. Nastypant's" Nuse that information upon being asessed. No tests were done on her back but thats really not all that unusual for this or any ER. Two days later a friend of ours "Donna" tries to get "Janis" to go back to the ER because she was not only in pain but now half of her body was going numb, it was quite scary. So they go together "Janis" and "Donna" to the ER I drop them off and the hospital and runs some errands. Now I have to say that "Donna" probably wasn't the best person to send along with "Janis" for she has a shady history of using drugs, but only those prescribed to her, she found an idiot Dr. that will write scripts for anything you ask for. Into the Clinic/ER; "Donna" is asked to wait outside. Newer, younger, "Dr. Feelgood" comes along and states diagnosis of sciatica, and brings out the script pad. "Dr. Feelgood" orders a 60mg Toradol IM injection followed by a 10mg Decadron IM injection, then writes for Vicodin 500mg 2 tabs q 4 hrs, Prednisone, tapering dose, and she still has the script for flexeril that she hasn't filled yet. "Dr. Feelgood" shoots her up, sends her on her way. I come back to pick them up and she's flat out stoned. I asked her whats up, she tells me what happend and starts to feel sick. I get her home, for two days she's completely wasted, she's trying to take her pills like the bottles say but can't even make her own coffee. Three days later she gets up late, has to hurry to get her kid on the bus she's so unsteady she falls right on her kid in his bed. The kids ok, but she's wrecked, she can't think, she's freakin out a little bit, she thinks she fell because her side went numb and her meds aren't working for her. It's pill time again, right after the kid went to school, so she opens her purse, grabs a plastic baggy with pills in it (2 Soma, 1 Ativan) (not the pills she's supposed to take)and takes em. 10 min later someones calling an ambulance for her, she can't stop crying, she can't walk, she can't talk, starts to drool a little. Off to the hospital, they kept her in ICU for observation but only had to treat her for a UTI, they did nothing for the "overdose", probably couldn't do anything but watch her anyway. Point is, it wasn't as bad as some overdoses, yet they kept her overnight to keep an eye on her which I'm very happy about. Thing is, "Janis" has no recollection of these events, she's lost like 5 days of memory. She thinks she's had those pills in the pocket of her purse for about six months, says she knew they were in there, a friend gave em too her long ago but she didn't want to take them because pills make her sick. Now.. I'm not naive nor am I stupid and I do believe what she is telling me. So benefit of the doubt here please.. We called 911 for her, told them she had back pain needs to go to the hospital, can't move legs that well. EMT's took her to the hospital,when they got out they called dispatch to report, while on the phone EMT tells dispatch that call was for overdose. Dispatch supervisor on duty happens to be married to "Cheif Blowhard", "Officer Woody's" boss. Mrs."Cheif Blowhard" calls her hubby and tells him the news about the overdose. Meanwhile, back at the ER "Dr. Nastypants" was in this really didn't help as "Officer Woody" shows up later to investigate the "overdose". "Dr. Nastypants" states to "Officer Woody" he thinks she sells or trades her drugs for other drugs. I can imagine this is a safe assumption considering the situation, but it's not exactly true, nor is "Dr.Nastypants" a investigator. So, "Officer Woody" gets "Janis" to sign a medical record release form, he fills it out, the nurse takes it to her, and she signs it. Right after she signs it she asks "what time is it", "Officer Woody" replies 10:40, "Janis" freaks out, "I have to get home to put my kids to bed... " Officer Woody" replies, it's 10:40 in the morning your kids are still at school.. Then continues to question her. This is a little past 2 hours after she was taken into the hospital. "Officer Woddy" interviews her again in the hospital the next morning, she tells him I don't remember what happened. "Officer Woody" then interviews her ex husband, her two daughters at their school, her ex boyfriend, her friends an god knows who else.. So far he's come up empty handed because you see "janis" has no history of drug usage prescribed or not. My question is do you think he can arrest her for this "overdose". Any malpractice on the part of the hospital, mixing meds, alleries? I have a problem with this "overdose" because she was so screwed up from the moment she got those injections until days after the "overdose" and breach of confidentiality by EMT's, hospital etc... I appreciate all views. Thanks so much... Tilly
This scenario is played in America continuously. This patient was drug-seeking. Flexeril didn't fit the description of 'drug of choice' and the patient didn't take it. Narcotics fit the description and the patient willingly took the medication EVEN WHEN SHE WAS SO DRUGGED UP SHE COULDN'T STAND. Then, the patient 'found some Soma' in a plastic baggy, took them, and entered a classic zombie state that Soma abusers love, drool and all. Gorked out of her mind and a danger to everyone around her, she returns to the hospital for someone to make it all better.

I think there is a really good chance that CPS was notified that drugged-out Mom is/was a danger to her children and that the police used their authority to investigate if the 'patient' should be allowed to roam free.

The only legal issue I see is Dad's right to take the custody of the children from Mom. Unless Dad is a druggie, too, I hope he has the children in his custody at this very minute.

EC
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
ellencee said:
This scenario is played in America continuously. This patient was drug-seeking. Flexeril didn't fit the description of 'drug of choice' and the patient didn't take it. Narcotics fit the description and the patient willingly took the medication EVEN WHEN SHE WAS SO DRUGGED UP SHE COULDN'T STAND. Then, the patient 'found some Soma' in a plastic baggy, took them, and entered a classic zombie state that Soma abusers love, drool and all. Gorked out of her mind and a danger to everyone around her, she returns to the hospital for someone to make it all better.

I think there is a really good chance that CPS was notified that drugged-out Mom is/was a danger to her children and that the police used their authority to investigate if the 'patient' should be allowed to roam free.

The only legal issue I see is Dad's right to take the custody of the children from Mom. Unless Dad is a druggie, too, I hope he has the children in his custody at this very minute.

EC
She moved without arranging for medical care, perhaps "dad" if paternity has been etablished doesn't even know she moved yet. Hopefully CPS was notified.
 

panzertanker

Senior Member
I am probably one of the most jaded people here...

But how can you ALL miss the ASA/Toradol allergy containdication.....?

(plus, I have never known anyone who did not have a drug issue to carry around meds in a "baggie"...especially ones that they are NOT prescribed!)
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
panzertanker said:
But how can you ALL miss the ASA/Toradol allergy containdication.....?

(plus, I have never known anyone who did not have a drug issue to carry around meds in a "baggie"...especially ones that they are NOT prescribed!)
I didn't miss the contrindication, however this is supposedly a 3rd party account and she didn't qualify what the "BAD" reaction to ASA was, possibly that it didn't work, could be a bad reaction in her perception and not qualify as an allergic reaction per the black box warning. Also, this information was supposedly given to the 1st ER doc's nurse and if it wasn't qualified as an allergic reaction may not have been noted in the record, thus 2nd ER doc prescribes and treats for her "worsening" symptoms while the script for Flexeril remains in her purse, unfilled. This patient is obviously drug seeking and her "Freind" trying to capitalize on what happened. What she was hoping for was a better script to fill rather than being treated in the ER, so plan "B" goes into place and the "unintentional" overdose with illegally obtained controlled Rx in hopes that she can sue the hospital. None of this seems to jive with a person who actually has a known ASA allergy or adverse reactions to drugs, unless her "friends" were using her to get drugs because she wouldn't take them? Something doesn't jive.
 

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