Advice from an ER doctor

[Chinorean]

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/301345524.html

Interesting post from best of craigslist.

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[IntheDraft6]

Wow. I think someone may need a few days off. He/she also gave away some of our secrets and may make it more difficult for us.

 

[shortbread9]

couldnt have said it better myself.

 

[FISKUS]

Beautiful... I find my self getting a little veklempt

 

[Apollyon]

The irony is the timing, because I essentially said the same thing this week while working (parts, at least). As I told the staff, "these people think they are so sly and so brilliant, but I am smarter than they are". One of the nurses said that "someone is always smarter than you", and my response was "but none of them are in any of these beds!"

I say, repetitively, "don't lie to me". The last vagrant I gave money to? A dude that says, "I'm drunk, but not drunk enough." I gave him a couple bucks for being honest with me.

I will give patients a shot in the ED, but no Rx to go. Moreover, some people should be careful for what they wish for, as they may get it (as I interpret it). 5mg oxycodone x #5 - is that worth your wait? Also, when I tell you that, if your headache responds to Dilaudid or "that drug that starts with "d" and end in "emerol", but I can't remember the name" (again, I'm not that stupid), that it's not a migraine, that's a hint. An even bigger hint is when I tell you that I am not giving you any Dilaudid or Demerol (and you may even get the MPTP story from the 1980s, in less than a minute).

Where I'm at now, Lortab is Rx'd like candy - I had a streak of 10 patients in a row last weekend that all were chronically on Lortab, prescribed by their doctors. I don't Rx Lortab (well, one guy who was just dumb got 5 to cover him over the weekend, as I was in the next day, and didn't want this guy to be puking and having diarrhea, and being a pain in MY butt).

 

[Ceez]

damn, am i going to be that cynical one day???

 

[Apollyon]

damn, am i going to be that cynical one day???

It's not cynical - it's realistic. People really in pain will take anything you offer them - 325 of Tylenol? Some spit in a cup over ice?

Cynical is denying people really in pain, pain medicine.

 

[southerndoc]

damn, am i going to be that cynical one day???

It's a fine line that you will walk. Prescribe pain meds to someone who is abusing them, and you could risk losing your license if you do it often. Don't prescribe pain meds to someone who really needs them, and you're really putting someone through torture.

 

[Arctic Char]

fun read, i must say

 

[Croooz]

Now I understand why the doc who saw my wife in the ER last week questioned my wife's allergy to Tylenol. We had all eyes on us up until he just came out and asked her if she wanted anything else. We were both confused because after the benadryl and steroids what else was there? I brought her in for an allergic rxn to a fatburner she bought at GNC. She looked worse than Will Smith in "Hitch" and her airway was closing up.....however the focus was on the Tylenol allergy? I can see why now. I guess druggies come in all shapes and sizes....even business suits at 7am in the morning.

 

[southerndoc]

I guess druggies come in all shapes and sizes....even business suits at 7am in the morning.

Yes they do, and some of them are wearing Rolexes and driving a Benz.

 

[deejayshakur]

good stuff.

we taking bets on which ED this is coming from?

 

[Aloha Kid]

Now I understand why the doc who saw my wife in the ER last week questioned my wife's allergy to Tylenol. We had all eyes on us up until he just came out and asked her if she wanted anything else. We were both confused because after the benadryl and steroids what else was there? I brought her in for an allergic rxn to a fatburner she bought at GNC. She looked worse than Will Smith in "Hitch" and her airway was closing up.....however the focus was on the Tylenol allergy? I can see why now. I guess druggies come in all shapes and sizes....even business suits at 7am in the morning.

Not sure if the ED doc was interested in whether or not your wife was a druggy. Allergic reactions don't really get narcotics. Tylenol is a very uncommon med to have an allergy to. This may be the reason why he/she questioned it intently.

 

[Painter1]

Not sure if the ED doc was interested in whether or not your wife was a druggy. Allergic reactions don't really get narcotics. Tylenol is a very uncommon med to have an allergy to. This may be the reason why he/she questioned it intently.

yea, my gut tells me the doc was interested in the acetaminophen allergy since it isn't at all common. i've seen a handful of NSAID allergic reactions in my short intern career but no acetaminophen reactions.

about drug-seekers. got to admit, they can really annoy the crap out of your day. for the most part, it's obvious they are seekers. lately, I've seen a number of drug-seekrs specifically ask for dilaudid AND benadryl. not sure if benadryl is poteniating the high. apparently, the high from dilaudid is significantly better than heroin. got this straight from a junkie.

 

[Seaglass]

Prescribe pain meds to someone who is abusing them, and you could risk losing your license if you do it often.

That is absolutely not true, at least not for us (EPs). If you give it to someone whom you KNOW is abusing them or diverting them then yes - you're in trouble; but we generally NEVER have that level of certainty about our patients. I've certainly run my share of drug seekers out of the ED but not because I'm afraid of losing my license.

 

[southerndoc]

That is absolutely not true, at least not for us (EPs). If you give it to someone whom you KNOW is abusing them or diverting them then yes - you're in trouble; but we generally NEVER have that level of certainty about our patients. I've certainly run my share of drug seekers out of the ED but not because I'm afraid of losing my license.

Reread my statement. The keyword was often. I know one physician who was disciplined by the medical board because he was filling narcotic scripts a little too much.

 

[SCER2005]

I think douchetard is my new favorite word. F'ing brilliant.

 

[SomeDoc]

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[EM2BE]

One of the ED's I've been in had a running list of names with their known used alias (and some had about 20), with their true and false SSNs. If their name was on the list, no drugs for them. Do other EDs use this method?

 

[Seaglass]

I know one physician who was disciplined by the medical board because he was filling narcotic scripts a little too much.

Was he an EP?