General Discussion

geckosfeet

(9,644 posts)

13. About 4 months ago I spent the night in an ER.

Wed Mar 28, 2012, 12:15 AM

Mar 2012

Nearby my bed was drunk/drugged woman who had badly burnt her hand and arm. But she was so drunk/stoned she did not feel it, and she was giving the staff a dreadful time. She did seem to realize that she needed treatment and walked in voluntarily. The staff was trying to treat her but she was very hostile and resistant - and loud.

This whole episode lasted for hours and took place about twenty or thirty feet from my own bed. I could hear everything. Her screams. The doctors and nurses talking to and pleading with her to calm down and let them treat her. Security calling for more help.

At several points the woman tried to get up and leave but the staff refused to let her go due to liability issues. Eventually (after about 4 hours of her screaming and and yelling) they actually had security hold her down while they sedated and treated her. I am not quite sure how they accomplished this as they pulled the curtains. I just know that one minute she was wailing and screaming and the next minute she was docile as a baby bunny.

About three or four hours later, with her arm and hand in bandages she was recovered enough to leave. As she walked out she has a sheepish look and apologized to almost everyone she saw.

This was one of the longest nights of my life. But just the difference in patient treatment in this womans experience and the one in the OP is astounding. In one case the hospital would not let the patient leave without treating her, in the other they had the patient carted off by the police.

WTF?

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Women dies after being dragged from Hospital... [View all] HipChick Mar 2012 OP

EDIT--link isn't working. That's ghastly. nt MADem Mar 2012 #1

Try this link pokerfan Mar 2012 #10

OMG, so young and beautiful. MADem Mar 2012 #16

I didn't have to click on the link to know she was black. So sad. nanabugg Mar 2012 #152

Too bad she wasn't an embryo CanonRay Mar 2012 #87

+1 mmonk Mar 2012 #92

I got a bad link the first time but it worked when I re-clicked on it. pacalo Mar 2012 #12

The second link provided did the trick. What a terrible story. nt MADem Mar 2012 #17

I'm glad you got to see it. pacalo Mar 2012 #22

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: ellisonz Mar 2012 #14

Unbelievable. CrispyQ Mar 2012 #2

+1. nt awoke_in_2003 Mar 2012 #73

She must of had an outstanding warrant... FarPoint Mar 2012 #3

No read it again! "She was arrested because she refused to leave" lunasun Mar 2012 #8

No. The doc didn't properly check her and thought she was malingering. nt MADem Mar 2012 #19

See, this is what I don't understand and I don't liberalhistorian Mar 2012 #25

They did ultrasound her legs... cynatnite Mar 2012 #28

DVT Is a big killer Evasporque Mar 2012 #91

You are right about that. OVERPAID01 Mar 2012 #71

And HERE is the Difference, that saved you and killed her..... BlancheSplanchnik Mar 2012 #95

Sorry.. that's bullshit Texasgal Mar 2012 #111

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Marrah_G Mar 2012 #4

I read some on this story yesterday. She had had tests that didn't show anything, was discharged. uppityperson Mar 2012 #5

I don't think they would have released dick cheney me b zola Mar 2012 #49

she was complaining that she couldn't dana_b Mar 2012 #6

Between two available beds! pacalo Mar 2012 #11

THAT is why I registered here. To me that was the final indignity. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #121

Welcome to DU! The Midway Rebel Mar 2012 #139

That was beautifully said & that speaks for my feelings about it, too. pacalo Mar 2012 #147

I read that one too, and heard the woman crying at the end. A FELONY, they charged her with. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #153

So much for the "emergency room" argument. nt Confusious Mar 2012 #7

Malpractice and a lawsuit to the police department? Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #9

Can't fault the police. The hospital, though? I think yes. MADem Mar 2012 #21

The fact that she was screaming in pain and liberalhistorian Mar 2012 #29

A doctor told them she was trespassing and that there was nothing wrong with her. MADem Mar 2012 #33

Did the crappy dr's make the police treat her like an animal? me b zola Mar 2012 #52

The doctors told the police this woman, with no drugs in her system, was a "drug seeker." MADem Mar 2012 #67

In civilized nations me b zola Mar 2012 #80

I don't know what kind of medical coverage she had. MADem Mar 2012 #110

"Good faith"?? DiverDave Mar 2012 #159

The principle being that the police have the right to treat malingerers and drug seekers who HiPointDem Mar 2012 #160

They didn't "throw," they placed her. MADem Mar 2012 #162

Oh, sure they gently placed her DiverDave Apr 2012 #167

The doctors painted her as a lying malingering drug seeker. MADem Mar 2012 #69

I dont have all the facts mind you but my initial opinion is that the doctor should lose his cstanleytech Mar 2012 #126

I think it was an egregious error and the doctor should be held responsible. MADem Mar 2012 #129

You would think that the hospital could have confirmed she didn't have any drugs in her system. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #58

Can't fault the police? Really? Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #37

She had JUST been released by the doctor, who said she was "fit for confinement." MADem Mar 2012 #43

The woman was having trouble breathing. She was in pain. Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #53

A doctor had "just"--I mean JUST--told them she was "fit for confinement." MADem Mar 2012 #64

The cops dragged her *by her arms* into the police station Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #83

I would be suing that hospital if she were my child or sister. MADem Mar 2012 #119

Don't they have minds of their own? The woman told them she was in too much pain to walk. sabrina 1 Mar 2012 #76

They hear that shit all the time. Especially from "drug seekers." MADem Mar 2012 #122

Are doctors allowed to test everyone who complains of pain for drugs? dkf Mar 2012 #156

I don't know but I doubt they would do that--it costs money. MADem Mar 2012 #157

Yup. Nobody involved in this should be held accountable in any way. It was an act of God. n/t Crunchy Frog Mar 2012 #106

WTF? MADem Mar 2012 #117

I'm really sure it's sarcastic without the "sarcasm" thingy. xtraxritical Mar 2012 #135

Hard to tell! nt MADem Mar 2012 #144

Generally speaking the "little people" are routinely called to be "accountable" for their errors. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #142

Give it a break Caretha Mar 2012 #112

Why don't YOU? MADem Mar 2012 #114

As I said.... Caretha Mar 2012 #116

And as I said, this isn't about ME, so try behaving like an adult and stop trying to make it thus. MADem Mar 2012 #120

I expect, as a minimum, that they would put her on the bed and not leave her laying on the floor. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #124

Absolutely NOT. MADem Mar 2012 #127

It appears to me that there is a pad on the beds. It's a local jail, not a federal supermax prison. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #132

If she was "drug seeking" she was by definition a "druggie" MADem Mar 2012 #138

I didn't say the police should have known she had blood clots. I said they treated her carelessly HiPointDem Mar 2012 #146

They had a "fit for confinement" order from a doctor who said she was a malingering trespasser. MADem Mar 2012 #150

Where was her family? Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #59

There are a lot of links to articles in this thread. Read them all and you'll see. MADem Mar 2012 #115

A woman who clearly needed medical and mental health treatment is instead shunted to jail suffragette Mar 2012 #77

I agree. I think the doctor blew it. Completely. MADem Mar 2012 #123

I can fault them for not putting her in a bed and instead leaving her on the floor. nt Mojorabbit Mar 2012 #98

I think the doctor convinced them that she was a malingerer and a "drug seeker." MADem Mar 2012 #105

It is a human thing Mojorabbit Mar 2012 #107

You probably would not have called the police and said "Get this malingering drug seeker out of my MADem Mar 2012 #113

I am not excusing the doc. I said that the actions of the police provided the final indignity. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #137

The police were simply a pump primed by the doctor. MADem Mar 2012 #143

Nothing to do with intelligence. Something to do with humanity. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #125

Whatever. You know it all. You "know" that no one in custody ever lies or fakes it. MADem Mar 2012 #128

Why are you making it personal? They left her laying on the floor. There was no need for that, HiPointDem Mar 2012 #130

Yes, there WAS a need for that. MADem Mar 2012 #133

I will post the picture again. You are mistaken. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #134

I will repeat that people withdrawing from drugs sometimes move about violently. MADem Mar 2012 #145

Withdrawal from opiates does not make one lose consciousness or lose control in the sense that HiPointDem Mar 2012 #148

This woman was on no drugs. We don't know what kind of drugs the "doctor" assumed she was on. MADem Mar 2012 #149

When you go into the hospital and say you have pain, they don't give you amphetamines. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #151

No, but opiates can calm you down if you can't get your coke or meth, can't they? MADem Mar 2012 #154

Let's see: the "metal bunk" argument is bunk, the "painkiller withdrawal" argument is bunk, now HiPointDem Mar 2012 #155

None of it is "bunk." The metal bunk had a rubber mat on it. So what? MADem Mar 2012 #158

About 4 months ago I spent the night in an ER. geckosfeet Mar 2012 #13

You've given a good example of how the dedicated professionals handle difficult situations. pacalo Mar 2012 #30

So now if you're sick Turbineguy Mar 2012 #15

Ironically look at who won the award for best Hospital HipChick Mar 2012 #18

No doubt it's because they're good at keeping out the riff-raff. Crunchy Frog Mar 2012 #109

Take a look at her picture, that explains why they did this to her. Zalatix Mar 2012 #20

No, it was not insurance related... cynatnite Mar 2012 #23

Well I don't think ending up dead in a jail cell Rex Mar 2012 #26

We don't have all facts here. It's difficult to speculate on things like this. n/t cynatnite Mar 2012 #32

True, but one would think the cops would clear her with the Rex Mar 2012 #34

It was the doctors who cleared her medically... cynatnite Mar 2012 #35

I guess the cops thought she was looking for drugs Rex Mar 2012 #47

I do think they jumped the gun on whether or not she was a drug seeker... cynatnite Mar 2012 #51

I went to the ER Heathen57 Mar 2012 #103

You're not actually thinking about introducing facts here, are you? YellowRubberDuckie Mar 2012 #85

I don't care what "mental" issues she had, liberalhistorian Mar 2012 #27

There are any number of reasons why those clots could have been missed... cynatnite Mar 2012 #31

I understand that, that was precisely the point I was trying to make. liberalhistorian Mar 2012 #61

She had gone to 2 other hospitals as well... cynatnite Mar 2012 #66

Thank you for posting all you have here. I read about this yesterday, had to be offline for the uppityperson Mar 2012 #75

It's also one of the signs that the "treatment" didn't work and the patient is still in pain. HiPointDem Apr 2012 #165

they thought she was a drug seeker noiretextatique Mar 2012 #44

she died because of blood clots in her leg noiretextatique Mar 2012 #36

Yes, we know that... cynatnite Mar 2012 #39

the facts are: she was complaining of leg pain and hauled off to jail noiretextatique Mar 2012 #41

The facts are in her medical records and no one can make a judgment one way or the other... cynatnite Mar 2012 #48

she did die from a blood clot, did she not? in jail, after she refused to leave noiretextatique Mar 2012 #56

It does not make the hospital liable... cynatnite Mar 2012 #60

i am not saying the hospital is liable noiretextatique Mar 2012 #63

With the Affordable Care Act and medicare for all you would not be having this conversation. xtraxritical Mar 2012 #141

She went to several hospitals because the problem persisted despite the supposed "treatment". HiPointDem Mar 2012 #140

Before taking this one article's word for it....check out these others as well... cynatnite Mar 2012 #24

"My sister is not here today because people passed judgment" noiretextatique Mar 2012 #38

It is very relevant... cynatnite Mar 2012 #42

they thought she was a drug seeker noiretextatique Mar 2012 #46

And she had no drugs in her system. MADem Mar 2012 #50

They did an ultrasound and found no clot... cynatnite Mar 2012 #54

i am not trying to condemn them either: but per the police report noiretextatique Mar 2012 #57

Which is a very common happening in an ER... cynatnite Mar 2012 #62

i know...my cousin is an ER nurse noiretextatique Mar 2012 #65

Very true... cynatnite Mar 2012 #68

yes it was noiretextatique Mar 2012 #70

Heartbreaking. MADem Mar 2012 #40

They thought she was seeking, and maybe wanted a roof for the night. moriah Mar 2012 #74

The Republican Health Care Plan: Devil_Fish Mar 2012 #45

From one of the articles: jonthebru Mar 2012 #55

The mission statement of St. Mary's, from their web site: begin_within Mar 2012 #72

I think I want to puke. pennylane100 Mar 2012 #79

That's a sick joke. surrealAmerican Mar 2012 #97

I really despise this country sometimes Cali_Democrat Mar 2012 #78

This makes me so sad. Quantess Mar 2012 #81

Institutional racism malaise Mar 2012 #82

that fucking doctor should be banned from practicing medicine cali Mar 2012 #84

That is possibly one of the saddest videos I've ever watched. trumad Mar 2012 #86

This message was self-deleted by its author Evasporque Mar 2012 #93

I self deleted because I had a TMI moment... Evasporque Mar 2012 #94

This country is a bureaucratic cesspool. n/t EmeraldCityGrl Mar 2012 #88

IMO Mr Dixon Mar 2012 #89

Health Care Police State! ThatsMyBarack Mar 2012 #90

"Best health care system in the world" Doctor_J Mar 2012 #96

omg Liberal_in_LA Mar 2012 #99

Maybe I am jumping the gun here, but before I click the link I am going to make a guess: tblue37 Mar 2012 #100

yes I was shocked as well Enrique Mar 2012 #104

St. Mary's Health Center tabasco Mar 2012 #101

I nearly died in 2007 from a blood clot in my leg going to my lungs Hepburn Mar 2012 #102

I developed a clot after surgery 2 years ago...the nurse turned me away HipChick Mar 2012 #118

I walked into an ER with a head injury once EFerrari Mar 2012 #136

there are no words. that hospital must be reviewed. RIP Anna. You deserved better. roguevalley Mar 2012 #108

Coppers (usually right wingers) enforcing the death panels against the non-1%? Dawson Leery Mar 2012 #131

"Christian charity" baldguy Mar 2012 #161

TYT talks about this: Cali_Democrat Mar 2012 #163

Kicking this again. HiPointDem Apr 2012 #164

Homeless woman's death in police custody stirs anger in St. Louis Judi Lynn Apr 2012 #166