Help, I'm in trouble.

[PoorMD]

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Ok so we took a major exam. Everyone went out to party that night. When all the reasonable folks went home to deal with hangovers, I chose to pursue an even later path that took me into the depths of hell..

I ran into some friends of mine from the wrong side of the tracks, per se. They were all doing coke, so I did a line. This was a huge mistake. I did not realize how powerful the stuff was, and within 1 hour I had a blood pressure of 200/75 and HR of 175 bpm..

So i walked (briskly) to the Emergency department, which is nearby my apartment. I told the doc I snorted a line and that it was causing my heart to race. I then told him I was a med student and needed this to be kept hush hush. He agreed that I should keep this event hush hush, but sadly- his shift ended like 30 mins later, so when he transferred his patients, he had to transfer me to a new attending.
The ER docs replacing him were hardcore by the books, and they told me standard protocol was to inform the deans at the school of medicine. ... So at that point, I realized my medical career might be coming to a close.. In our student code, doing drugs of any sort is means for expulsion.

before they transferred me to the floor for observation, one of the cooler ER docs gave me an alias (i.e. on all my charts he wrote the name "Jake Grone." instead of "John Simes" This alias was used all throughout my care, and I am just curious- will that help me someday in covering this up from the feds? i.e. the FDA for liscensure?

I have to meet with my Deans tommorow, if they don't kick me out I will be suprised.

 

[physicsnerd42]

Ok so we took a major exam. Everyone went out to party that night. When all the reasonable folks went home to deal with hangovers, I chose to pursue an even later path that took me into the depths of hell..

I ran into some friends of mine from the wrong side of the tracks, per se. They were all doing coke, so I did a line. This was a huge mistake. I did not realize how powerful the stuff was, and within 1 hour I had a blood pressure of 200/75 and HR of 175 bpm..

So i walked (briskly) to the Emergency department, which is nearby my apartment. I told the doc I snorted a line and that it was causing my heart to race. I then told him I was a med student and needed this to be kept hush hush. He agreed that I should keep this event hush hush, but sadly- his shift ended like 30 mins later, so when he transferred his patients, he had to transfer me to a new attending.
The ER docs replacing him were hardcore by the books, and they told me standard protocol was to inform the deans at the school of medicine. ... So at that point, I realized my medical career might be coming to a close.. In our student code, doing drugs of any sort is means for expulsion.

before they transferred me to the floor for observation, one of the cooler ER docs gave me an alias (i.e. on all my charts he wrote the name "Jake Grone." instead of "John Simes" This alias was used all throughout my care, and I am just curious- will that help me someday in covering this up from the feds? i.e. the FDA for liscensure?

I have to meet with my Deans tommorow, if they don't kick me out I will be suprised.

I don't understand something. How can your med school possibly be legally informed of any medical care you receive? Doesn't HIPAA protect your privacy?

 

[Dimoak]

I was actually kind of confused to hear about this as well. I don't know what the policy is exactly, but I don't know if those docs were legally allowed to report your drug use directly to your med school without your consent. I think the only way this sort of information can be revealed is if there's a formal police inquiry on whether you were under the influence; I don't know if those ER docs have any place reporting such a thing to your medical school. Please don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you're giving us the whole story here?

In any case, if your med school does formally expel you (which I really hope they don't as this is probably a one time only mistake for you), they will likely put this into your record under the name you enrolled as. If you try to cover this up with a name change, I believe that's actually a criminal offense. In any case, I hope this doesn't result in any career-breaking consequences for this one-time mistake. Good luck!

 

[Blade28]

How did you know what your blood pressure was? I'm confused.

 

[autoimmunity]

How did you know what your blood pressure was? I'm confused.

DUH! Even though he was on an outrageous high, he was still able to recall his medical training, pulled out the BP cuff he had in the pocket of his Diesels, and calmly measure that enormous BP. He's a med student and therefore immortal. Sheesh.

 

[Blade28]

How did you know what your blood pressure was? I'm confused.

 

[yanky5]

As long as your blood pressure wasn't 250 or higher, you probably won't die so you should have not gone to the ER since the diastolic pressure is semi normal. If you were healthy, chances are your high pulse won't kill you unless you get chest pain. Also, how could you have measured your BP if you were high? It would have went down a couple of hours later. You are very stupid to do such a thing. If they kick you out, it is your fault. We need doctors to be responsible people of the highest moral standards.

 

[skypilot]

If they tell the dean you won't need med school. You will have hit the jackpot with the million dollar lawsuit you can file for privacy violation.

 

[PoorMD]

If they tell the dean you won't need med school. You will have hit the jackpot with the million dollar lawsuit you can file for privacy violation.

Before I got to the ER, all I could do was count my pulse. It was 150 bpm. This was almost 2 hours after the fact, so I was frightened..

I came to the ER alone on foot, and there was no police involvement. I came out of my own fear, losing one's life. The cool ER doc, the one I saw first, who I was straight up with and I told him completely that I snorted a big line of some crazy powerful coke and I thought it could kill me. He told me "Im not the cops, I am not going to tell anyone." Then the shift changed...

The new ER docs told me "the cats out of the bag," implying they had already told my Deans.. and I just felt so damned frustrated.. At that point I felt like it was absolute bull**** that they could tell my dean this.. Regardless, I set up a meeting with the dean for tommorow.. I feel like I will get kicked out, most likely. The best case scenario is some form of academic probation where I would be submitting to random drug tests, and must maintain good grades.. That would be ideal, of course..

The only saving grace, my one life line for not getting kicked out-- my grades are good (around the class average), and the fact that I self reported the incident and am seeking help for the matter (rather than trying to disguise it). p.s. this was an isolated "over the top " celebration style incident and i am NOT a habitual drug user

PoorMD

 

[cdql]

We need doctors to be responsible people of the highest moral standards.

I hope that's a joke. We're trying to become doctors. Not priests.

 

[Blade28]

OK, a brief look at some of your other threads and I'm officially worried about you.

Here you talk about liking the movie Trainspotting.
Here you suggest you may try Adderall.
Apparently you smoke to "self-medicate."
Here you talk about doing drugs in college and being busted by the cops for smoking MJ.

In that last thread, you said you were going to stop this type of behavior - what happened?

Just concerned, that's all.

 

[rush2]

Well, i really have no idea what the policies are about drug use and such at your school. But i think you should cancel that meeting with the dean. do NOT get yourself kicked out of school for doing 1 line of coke. it was stupid, especially after a night of drinking, so learn your lesson from your brush with death (or extreme hypertension) and don't do it again.

showing up in your dean's office crying about being a cokehead is not going to do anything for you at all. if the ER doc's actually informed the dean [which i doubt], then they will contact you. deal with it then.

 

[Bevo]

uggg. lose the friends. They're probably as much of the problem as the drugs are.
I had to do it too in the past. They're not really friends if all they do is drag you down or keep you down whether it be intentionally or unintentionally.


if you get kicked out for doing coke. probably earned it since this also sounds like a repeat offence with having drugs intefere with your higher education.

(just glancing through the thread).

 

[Taurus]

Well, i really have no idea what the policies are about drug use and such at your school. But i think you should cancel that meeting with the dean. do NOT get yourself kicked out of school for doing 1 line of coke. it was stupid, especially after a night of drinking, so learn your lesson from your brush with death (or extreme hypertension) and don't do it again.

showing up in your dean's office crying about being a cokehead is not going to do anything for you at all. if the ER doc's actually informed the dean [which i doubt], then they will contact you. deal with it then.

I tend to agree. You're inviting trouble if you let them know that you were busted for coke. They may give you a second chance on weed, but I doubt with coke. You're probably protected by privacy laws. If they call you in, then you can give your side of the story. If you do survive this episode, you really need to re-evaluate what you're doing with your life. You've worked so hard, for so long, and been given an opportunity that few get. Don't blow it. Medicine has very, very little tolerance for unprofessional behavior.

 

[glorytaker]

Um, why did you tell them you're a medical student? And if it's the hospital associated with your medical school, why didn't you pick one that's not associated with your medical school?

 

[Bobblehead]

I'm pretty sure I don't carry enough malpractice insurance to tell anyone that a patient I've treated took any type of drug. I definitely wouldn't go out of the way to "report" it to a dean/boss.

The only person I've ever seen contacted for college/medical students was the medical director of the student clinic but not in the role of an administrator but as a physician, i.e. their primary care physician who would subsequently be following up on their ER visit.

The last thing we need is more people deliberately lying when they show up in the ER and delaying their care. The entire story sounds a bit suspicious to me however.

 

[Rafa]

no comment.

 

[djc1981]

Ok, if you're so worried about anonymity, why did you give your real name in your post? Anyone else skeptical?

 

[Pemulis]

To answer the OP's original question: I am pretty sure that unless a criminal charge is brought, there is no way the licensing authorities could ever find out about this. So if you don't get kicked out of school, you should be in the clear.

 

[PoorMD]

Ok, if you're so worried about anonymity, why did you give your real name in your post? Anyone else skeptical?

neither of the names listed there are my real names. I just made them up rather than using XXX's

PoorMD

 

[PoorMD]

I tend to agree. You're inviting trouble if you let them know that you were busted for coke. They may give you a second chance on weed, but I doubt with coke. You're probably protected by privacy laws. If they call you in, then you can give your side of the story. If you do survive this episode, you really need to re-evaluate what you're doing with your life. You've worked so hard, for so long, and been given an opportunity that few get. Don't blow it. Medicine has very, very little tolerance for unprofessional behavior.

I was not BUSTED with anything. I self-reported the coke use to the doc so he could help me sort of the cardiovascular problems (BP 200/75 and HR 175).
At no point did police get involved, and no drug screenings were performed in the ER. the Doc simply took my word for it and treated my symtpoms.

 

[Dr.Who?]

Don't "blow" it.

Couldn't stop from laughing at this...

 

[DiverDoc]

I was wondering about this as well - if you were concerned about anonymity, wouldn't it have made more sense to A.) keep quiet or B.) give a fake name?
At any rate, I'm with Taurus and Blade. Your threads stick out more than anyone else's in the allo boards, because they're almost always about bad stuff happening. Might be time for some re-evaluating, or straightedging. I don't know. But there've got to be healthier ways of releasing stress. Like sex or something. Definitely not hard drugs, definitely not drinking alone, etc.
Good luck - and I agree with the poster who suggests canceling the appointment. If it's truly beyond your control, you'll know (ie, the end will come with or without your help). But if the dean doesn't know, then you'll just give him carte blanche to make an example out of you. Don't 'fess up unnecessarily.

But use condoms! 👍

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I don't understand something. How can your med school possibly be legally informed of any medical care you receive? Doesn't HIPAA protect your privacy?

yes, that's their obligation.

 

[rockchalkdoc]

So what happened in the meeting?

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I was not BUSTED with anything. I self-reported the coke use to the doc so he could help me sort of the cardiovascular problems (BP 200/75 and HR 175).
At no point did police get involved, and no drug screenings were performed in the ER. the Doc simply took my word for it and treated my symtpoms.

it doesn't matter if you reported it yourself. if cops are not involved your doctor must keep things CONFIDENTIAL and if they reported you to the deans, you can report them to HIPAA and for breaking the law.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

DUH! Even though he was on an outrageous high, he was still able to recall his medical training, pulled out the BP cuff he had in the pocket of his Diesels, and calmly measure that enormous BP. He's a med student and therefore immortal. Sheesh.

 

[8744]

I hope that's a joke. We're trying to become doctors. Not priests.

Sure. But maybe as physicians we need to eschew casually doing a line of coke.

Hey, this is yer' Uncle Panda. The guy least likely to view medicine as a cult. But come on....

 

[Psycho Doctor]

OK, a brief look at some of your other threads and I'm officially worried about you.

Here you talk about liking the movie Trainspotting.
Here you suggest you may try Adderall.
Apparently you smoke to "self-medicate."
Here you talk about doing drugs in college and being busted by the cops for smoking MJ.

In that last thread, you said you were going to stop this type of behavior - what happened?

Just concerned, that's all.

wow. and the ER doctors read this board, so he's really in trouble now. 😀 j/k

 

[PoorMD]

wow. and the ER doctors read this board, so he's really in trouble now. I personally don't believe this thread but i do believe he is a druggie who is not about to quit. sorry

... this is not a troll post! why is that so hard to believe? ER docs can read this post all they want, what does that matter?

The only people who I am concerned with are 1) myself and my health, and 2) what my Dean's decide to do.

I discussed this with the HIPAA specialist at our hospital this morning, she is currently talking with her lawyer and will be emailing me any minute.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

... this is not a troll post! why is that so hard to believe? ER docs can read this post all they want, what does that matter?

The only people who I am concerned with are 1) myself and my health, and 2) what my Dean's decide to do.

I discussed this with the HIPAA specialist at our hospital this morning, she is currently talking with her lawyer and will be emailing me any minute.

you can delete my quote if you want, as I modified it.

 

[konverse]

... this is not a troll post! why is that so hard to believe? ER docs can read this post all they want, what does that matter?

The only people who I am concerned with are 1) myself and my health, and 2) what my Dean's decide to do.

I discussed this with the HIPAA specialist at our hospital this morning, she is currently talking with her lawyer and will be emailing me any minute.

yanno what i would have done
prolly done a couple more lines, had a few more drinks, maybe even hit the hash pipe and THEN go to the hospital to see what's up...
make it a REAL teaching case

 

[Psycho Doctor]

yanno what i would have done
prolly done a couple more lines, had a few more drinks, maybe even hit the hash pipe and THEN go to the hospital to see what's up...
make it a REAL teaching case

teaching of a suicide gone bad...?

 

[angietron3000]

OK, a brief look at some of your other threads and I'm officially worried about you.

Here you talk about liking the movie Trainspotting.
Here you suggest you may try Adderall.
Apparently you smoke to "self-medicate."
Here you talk about doing drugs in college and being busted by the cops for smoking MJ.

In that last thread, you said you were going to stop this type of behavior - what happened?

Just concerned, that's all.

Holy Judgemental, Batman! I love trainspotting too, will that make me a bad doctor? 😛

 

[Law2Doc]

I discussed this with the HIPAA specialist at our hospital this morning, she is currently talking with her lawyer and will be emailing me any minute.

The school is actually in a bind -- they can't ignore HIPAA, but may be at risk for even bigger liability if the OP while impaired injures patients some time down the road -- now that they know about it, they cannot put that genie back in the bottle and are at endless risk of an easy malpractice suit for negligent supervision. It also may be legally problematic to throw someone out of med school for suffering with what may be considered an addiction based on his prior drug issues -- based on the OP's track record (ignoring the movie) it is perhaps technically a disease.
OP - please let us know what they decide.

 

[PoorMD]

The school is actually in a bind -- they can't ignore HIPAA, but may be at risk for even bigger liability if the OP while impaired injures patients some time down the road -- now that they know about it, they cannot put that genie back in the bottle and are at endless risk of an easy malpractice suit for negligent supervision. It also may be legally problematic to throw someone out of med school for suffering with what may be considered an addiction based on his prior drug issues -- based on the OP's track record (ignoring the movie) it is perhaps technically a disease.
OP - please let us know what they decide.

The HIPAA Compliance Coordinator researched this with her staff lawyers, and found that there is no policy in our school that allows for disclosing patient information to the Dean of the school without patient's consent. I am having a meeting with the Dean in 1 hour (I requested the meeting). If he knows ANYTHING about why I was in the hospital, a violation of HIPAA will be evident (according to the HIPAA specialist).

I will keep you posted.

 

[deuist]

This has to be a troll! Look at the OP's other threads about adderall; getting arrested for possession of marijuana, yet still getting into medical school; and then his tales of studying 9 hours a night to ace anatomy. If a false thread, bravo, PoorMD, for getting so many SDNers into a fit. If true, I'm concerned about your going into medicine. You'll have access to lots of narcotics with no supervision. By the way, how did you "get busted by the cops a couple of time," yet managed to matriculate into medical school? Some states won't grant a medical license to a person with such an arrest record.

 

[PoorMD]

This has to be a troll! Look at the OP's other threads about adderall; getting arrested for possession of marijuana, yet still getting into medical school; and then his tales of studying 9 hours a night to ace anatomy. If a false thread, bravo, PoorMD, for getting so many SDNers into a fit. If true, I'm concerned about your going into medicine. You'll have access to lots of narcotics with no supervision. By the way, how did you "get busted by the cops a couple of time," yet managed to matriculate into medical school? Some states won't grant a medical license to a person with such an arrest record.

because I got a lawyer and had the case reach statue of limitations before going to court. no criminal record..

 

[Law2Doc]

because I got a lawyer and had the case reach statue of limitations before going to court. no criminal record..

Just FYI it's "statute" of limitations, not "statue".

 

[ShyRem]

statute of limitations is for being charged. Once charged, you can stonewall for years and it won't go away. Note that charged does not equal arrested. The two are separate entities - you get formally charged at the arraignment where you enter a plea. You get arrested on suspicion of a crime.

If you actually got a lawyer before you were charged, you have some serious bank to toss around. Toss some my way, will ya? I could use it.

 

[PoorMD]

statute of limitations is for being charged. Once charged, you can stonewall for years and it won't go away. Note that charged does not equal arrested. The two are separate entities - you get formally charged at the arraignment where you enter a plea. You get arrested on suspicion of a crime.

If you actually got a lawyer before you were charged, you have some serious bank to toss around. Toss some my way, will ya? I could use it.

I did get a lawyer before I was charged, and because the evidence police had on me was misdemeanor-level, the one year statute has since passed.
yes I had the money to do this to protect my record..

p.s. there has been NO police involvement in my OP.

 

[Tiki]

This has to be a troll! Look at the OP's other threads about adderall; getting arrested for possession of marijuana, yet still getting into medical school; and then his tales of studying 9 hours a night to ace anatomy. If a false thread, bravo, PoorMD, for getting so many SDNers into a fit. If true, I'm concerned about your going into medicine. You'll have access to lots of narcotics with no supervision. By the way, how did you "get busted by the cops a couple of time," yet managed to matriculate into medical school? Some states won't grant a medical license to a person with such an arrest record.

I agree, has to be a troll.

 

[cdql]

I can tell you how the meeting went.

They sat down and watched the Chappelle show.

Near the end of the episode, the dean whipped out some PCP and the two of them proceeded to the rooftops. They were last heard singing, "I believe I can flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy."

Cocaine's a helluva drug.

 

[ND2005]

I agree, has to be a troll.

Thirded.

 

[mac_kin]

well i hope they kick you out cause i dont want a doc who's too stupid to realize the consquences of snorting a line of coke

 

[PoorMD]

well i hope they kick you out cause i dont want a doc who's too stupid to realize the consquences of snorting a line of coke

Well, I had the meeting the Dean..

I am not getting kicked out. There is going to be some mediation, but it's behind closed doors and not on my permament school record. Case closed. If the police had been involved, obviously the story would have ended differently. My dean was very receptive and he thanked me for being so truthful..

It seems most of you on the forum don't believe I am telling the truth. That is a shame. Why is this story so hard to believe? Well, regardless- to those of you who do believe my story, it just goes to show that telling the truth and being up front with your supervisors is the #1 most important step in repairing the damages from a big screw up.

Of all the dumb things I've done, at least I can say I am good at damage control..

 

[velouria]

The HIPAA Compliance Coordinator researched this with her staff lawyers, and found that there is no policy in our school that allows for disclosing patient information to the Dean of the school without patient's consent. I am having a meeting with the Dean in 1 hour (I requested the meeting). If he knows ANYTHING about why I was in the hospital, a violation of HIPAA will be evident (according to the HIPAA specialist).

I will keep you posted.

??? what ???

so you're going to have a meeting with your dean to find out if he knows why you were in the hospital. how's that gonna go?

OP: "so, do you know where i was on friday night?"
Dean: blank stare
OP: "right then, i'll show myself the door."

i don't get it at all. if this is all on the up and up, why on earth would you set up a meeting?? if they found out, surely they would come to you.

 

[velouria]

whoops, posted as the OP was updating.


hopefully you won't need those new damage control skills again any time soon. good luck to you!

 

[mac_kin]

i think our friend just wants some attention... you like this e-attention don't you?

need some internet loving don't you...awww

 

[PoorMD]

whoops, posted as the OP was updating.


hopefully you won't need those new damage control skills again any time soon. good luck to you!

thank you! this thread can officially be closed now!! I feel like I have been reborn.