It’s the only thing that CAN be inferred from the OP’s words, and it’s entirely appropriate to do so.
How is taking the OP at her word making an assumption?
- Why would the doctor have written such a strong observation if they were simply assuming that the author of the OP used drugs?
- Why would the doctor ask where the author of the OP received their drugs?
No amount of sophistry can change the assumption that the author of the OP used drugs for kidney stones prior. The only thing that makes it possible that the author did NOT use drugs is if the doctor dangerously assumed, without asking the author of the OP, that the drugs were used for prior kidney stones.
Huh?
Scene: Exam 1
Doctor: So, what seems to be the problem?
CW: I’m peeing blood and puking and it really hurts. I think I might have a kidney stone. Can you give me something for the pain?
Doctor: Uh huh. Okay, let’s run some tests.
Doctor leaves. Camera follows him to pathology, where he consults a chart and speaks to a nurse.
Doctor (to nurse): I’m not impressed. This doesn’t look like it should be causing much pain. And I think I smelled alcohol on her breath. Looks like we have a classic drunk loser on our hands; I think she’s drug seeking. Let’s go have a talk…
Doctor walks back to Exam 1.
CW: Hey, what do you think?
Doctor: I’m not impressed. This shouldn’t be hurting. This isn’t kidney stone pain.
CW: Are you sure? I’ve had kidney stones 5 times before, and this is just what it felt like then.
Doctor: Uh huh, that’s what I thought. (Writes “Drug seeking behavior” in chart.) What hospitals have you gotten painkillers from before?
In short, blindsiding patients with an assumptive question is a classic interrogation technique. Catch her off guard, and she might just start crying and confess her sins.
You can infer nearly anything you want from the OP’s words and there is no evidence that any one is more correct than the others. So, tell you what; why don’t we wait for the OP to come back and tell us for certain?
This would only wash if the OP asked for painkillers.
What if the OP made up the pain for attention and not drugs? What if the pain knew an infatuee (is that a word?) at the ER whom they were stalking, and made up excuses to show up there?
Assuming that the OP is there for drugs is a dangerous leap for a doctor to make based on the exchange.
He’s a doctor, not a cop. It would be unprofessional to ask a patient where she’d gotten drugs in the past without already being told she’d gotten them. The OP also didn’t deny that she’d gotten drugs in the past, If the doctor had made an incorrect assumption, I would expect her to make that clear, especially since she was taking pains to give us the most self-serving account of events possible.
I am also entitled to take the OP’s posting history into account and I already know that she is an admitted addict.
Everything taken together points to my “assumption” that she had been given drugs in the past as being by far the most reasonable iterpretation of what she said.
Is it theoretically possible that I’m wrong, that she was an opiate virgin and that the doctor was playinng “gotcha?” Sure, that’s theoretically possible, but who’s kidding who?
Hopefully she will, but I fear she may not be entirely forthcoming. I haven’t exactly been charitable. She may be reluctant to give me the satisfaction of admitting to anything.
Ah, so you can choose to take her at her word or not as it suits you, eh? How extraordinarily convenient.
I’m taking her at her word when it seems believable and not when it doesn’t. When did I ever say I was doing otherwise? “Suiting me” does not enter into it. How does any interpretation at all “suit ME?”
Yes, I believe that’s the point.
The OP didn’t deny she’d gotten drugs before and I don’t find it credible that the doctor would make that leap.
It suits you because you won’t have to admit you’re wrong if the OP comes back and says she never told the doc she’d gotten drugs for all the other occurrences.
If the OP’s alcohol problem is severe enough to require drinking to calm the shakes (as described in the other thread), I wonder whether she appeared intoxicated and/or smelled of alcohol when she went into the E.R., and the attending doctor picked up on that.
I wouldn’t think a history of alcoholism would necessarily negate the use of opioid painkillers, but clear signs of recent alcohol use might cause a doctor (especially one seeing her in an E.R. for the first time) to become more wary about her legitimate need for painkillers, or her credibility in general, especially if she tried to deny or downplay her consumption. I also don’t believe doctors typically administer opioids to patients who are already under the influence of alcohol.
Oh, I see what you’re saying. I thought you still talking about the OP (where I expressed some skeptism about her symptoms).
Yeah, you’re technically right, I guess. If she comes back and says she was never given drugs before I won’t believe her, but only because I’ve already been talking so much shit about it. I think my posts might have an undue influence on the honesty of her answer.
You’re still welcome to believe her, of course. We’ll just have to agree to disagree about what we find believable.
Maybe I was too quick to believe the OP.
But many in this thread seem to believe the Doctor is infallible. I know they have seen it all, but they’re only human. Perhaps this Doctor thought he saw something that wasn’t really there with this particular patient and overreacted.
Whoa Nelly.
I should have looked at the link before posting. My mistake.
Disregard my previous comments, except for the part where I said Doctors are not infallible.
Hmmm…in my two kidney stone experiences ( two years apart ) the pain was overwhelmingly flank pain ( with the onset being the dull ache of a groin kick ), which I just assumed was caused by stones ( or something ) in the kidneys themselves. A mistaken impression?
For the record x-rays, multiple CAT scans and an IVP have never shown any evidence of a stone ( or any other kidney or ureter-related issue ) and as far as I can tell I’ve never passed one. But my symptoms were classic and my urologist ( the head of the urology department at a not at all prestigious Kaiser hospital ) assured me that not finding a stone doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Could be a “paste”, could be mutiple granules that passed easily.
But the pain was writhe on the bathroom floor, vomiting-bad the first time and merely awful the second time ( with the added bonus of mucho blood to make up for the less severe agony ). For what it’s worth I was prescribed vicodin, which I found only moderately effective and, sadly, with not a single enjoyable side effect unless you count a little sleepiness ( mostly it makes my limbs feel heavy ).
- Tamerlane
All of this is true. And, in my experience, addicts lie. And someone who is addicted to one thing is succeptible to addiction to other things. ER doctors are not stupid, and they deal with drug seekers on a daily basis. Anyone who comes in asking for opiate painkillers as if nothing else will do, will raise a red flag. We could take the OP as 100% true, or we could be realistic and factor in the possibility that she is not telling us the whole story, exaggerating for sympathy, or any number of things.
I’m not trying to be mean. It’s just that I’ve been there, been in active addiction and have done a lot of things to score painkillers. And if no painkillers were available, I’d substitute with other drugs. That’s a story a lot of addicts will tell. We are simply hardwired to medicate ourselves with whatever is available. And in a lot of cases, doctors are onto us. Sure, there are some who will believe what we tell them and prescribe what we want, but that is rare because the laws are so strict when it comes to controlled substances.
When you are really wanting painkillers that desperation is obvious to any good doctor. Unfortunately, people with legitimate pain often get denied the medication they need because the doctor is nervous to give out anything stronger than Motrin. It’s a tricky thing, and I don’t envy the people who have to decide who to believe.
A friend of mine was 19 years old, black, and had small dredlocks when he showed up at an ER asking for the strongest painkillers they had. The doctor did pretty much what the doctor in the OP did - accused him of seeking drugs and basically ignoring him in the hospital.
Of course, my friend has sickle-cell anemia, and was vomiting from the pain, which he well knew needed to be medicated by morphine. His own doctor was contacted, and BOY did she give the ER doctor a talking to about making snap judgments before, you know, looking in someone’s file to see if they have a chronic, very painful disease.