clark116
Enthusiast
Reged: 12/11/02
Posts: 221
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I was just wondering if anyone watched ER last night. They had a "drug-seeker" show up in the ER with a gun to get a shot of demerol. It was totally stupid and gives people the impression that if you need pain medication it turns you into a raving lunatic going to drastic measures like he did. Yeesh ....
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tracerb
Board Addict
Reged: 03/21/03
Posts: 322
Loc: USA
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Did he get the meds? 
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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Yep. I saw it the first time, too. In fact, I think the title of the post was exactly the same  If you're interested, I'm sure it's still available via search.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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mslily
Board Addict
Reged: 09/06/02
Posts: 322
Loc: Cincinnati, OH
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I'm telling you...it is the hysterical media making pain patients look like raving lunatics. Either that, or this guy was made out to be completely "off the latch".
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qbird
material girl
Reged: 09/02/02
Posts: 825
Loc: USA
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He finally got the meds after having to put a gun to a doctor's head. He then kissed the nurse and said thank you. I agree it was totally silly. I think the point was that there was not enough security in the hospital due to budget cuts.
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quincy
Board Addict
Reged: 11/07/02
Posts: 333
Loc: pacific northwest
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Have you guys noticed that recently there have been lots of attention to the "Pain topic"? Newsweek had a big article as well as Redbook, which I posted about earlier this month. They are not too complimentary about narcotics at all. The Redbook article really ticked me off, but the newsweek article offered a little more impartiality. At least it talked about how physicians need more education in treating chronic pain, and they didn't have any Oxycontin addict stories. Maybe its time America woke up to the chronic pain problem and stopped supporting the DEA so much. If people really knew how hard it was to receive decent meds on a daily basis, they might take up our cause. Most people only get narcotics when they get injured or something, they don't need to take them everyday. They don't realize that there are 30 million people in the US who do need them to live normal lives, just as a diabetic needs his insulin. I hope everyone, including the media and the government will wake up.
Sarah
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Trampy
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Southwest U.S.
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Quote:
Did he get the meds?
Yeah, he got the drugs alright. First he comes in saying he's "in pain" and he wants a shot of Demerol. After a lot of arguing and Dr. Carter flat-out refusing him anything and calling him a drug seeker (Carter was on probation a few years ago for drug use and stealing Vicodin), well Dr. Pratt caves in and writes him a scrip for Vicodin ... they didn't say how many. So he's disappointed that they won't give him the Demerol shot but he leaves. He comes back with a gun and puts it to the head of the woman Dr. Chen, who Pratt is in love with. The man is now demanding a 150-mg shot of Demerol. Abby goes to get the vial out of the locked cabinet. Before she fills the needle he demands to see the label. Big sigh of relief when we realize that Abby is giving him the real thing. She asks him "where?" and he points to his upper arm ... not an i.v. shot. She gives him the shot i.m. Instant happiness on his face. He lets Dr. Chen go and then he kisses Abby and says Thank You. After he makes it out the door he collapses. Abby has apparently given him more than the 150 mg he wanted. They roll a gurney outside and bring him back in to the ER to revive him. They mention Narcan so it had to be an OD. I can't say i blame her. He had just pointed a gun at all her friends and they were all in fear for their lives.
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Your mileage may vary ...
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dar
Journeyman
Reged: 08/23/02
Posts: 77
Loc: U.S.A
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Here's a thought!
[and by the way it is too early in morning for me to be "wiggin" out from all my narcs
How about a new reality show that depicts people of the FDA, DEA, & the CEO'S of the drug companies lobbying Wash. Sentators and the like. The first to take the "Viagra" sample and head to the back room wins!
Sorry for my cynisim but I am tired of the back breaking workers of this country who can't even get a decent nights sleep without pain being held up before everyone as the raving lunatics of the "ER"! If anyone really looked hard enough they would probably see that we {druggies} generate more money for the Federal Gov. simply because we can get out of bed, go to work and pay our taxes thanks to the sympathetic [or greedy OP's & IOP's]. [of course I don't work I am a stay at home mom, so none of this is valid ]
Quick:!! some Macro Economist call Greenspan and alert him. Free up the OP's & IOP's and we can get America back to Work!!! and the Economy back on track. Better yet All Faithful DBer's meet in Boston Harbor on Memorial Day with all the useless scripts and pain-meds and let's have a "Tea Party"
Dar
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"Better living through chemistry [sometimes]"
Edited by dar (05/24/03 07:03 AM)
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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Quote:
Here's a thought!
Sorry for my cynisim but I am tired of the back breaking workers of this country who can't even get a decent nights sleep without pain being held up before everyone as the raving lunatics of the "ER"!
Dar
Dar, that was the point of this episode. Trust me, I don't spend much time defending doctors but most of the characters in this show, like real DOCTORS and especially residents, work 100 hour weeks including at least 3 nights a week on call. Residents almost inevitably find themselves working at inner city hospitals like the one represented in ER. Did anyone happen to notice the subplot of the 12-yr-old crack addict prostitute that the doctors and nurses tried so hard to secure a detox bed for and succeeded, only to find that her pimp had managed to get into the ER and cart her off because these places chronically lack adequate staff and security?
That guy was NOT a pain patient, he was OBVIOUSLY a drug addict. When I went to the ER after putting my back out and they released me at 1am with no treatment and a script for 8 5mg hydros and a list of the 8 24-hour pharmacies in my LARGE metropolitan area, did I start kick over a bench full of people in the waiting room? NO! Because I couldn't. Did I come back with a gun and demand a 150mg of demerol? Would you?
No, my GF and I drove an hour out of our way to the closest pharmacy to fill that prescription. Wouldn't you?
Unless we on here are claiming to be smarter than everyone else in America, it should be obvious to EVERYONE that the guy was a dope fiend.
The point of the episode was what I stated in bold above. And it is a legitimate point.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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dar
Journeyman
Reged: 08/23/02
Posts: 77
Loc: U.S.A
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Dear Toe,
I apologize if my ranting was mis-interpeted. And I should not have posted, because I truly only read about the episode and did not see it myself. My gripe is not with GOOD DR.s who work their butts off because they feel led into their calling, it is with some of the red tape and countless greedy individuals who only see profit margins, when real medicine getting into the right hands and administered in a compassionate way would bring about more healing.
I know we don't live in a perfect world, however occasionally the media attempts to "sell" us a world that appears to be the real thing when in fact it is a misrepresentation of the truth. I am truly sorry if I offended anyone. This was not my intention.
Dar
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"Better living through chemistry [sometimes]"
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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I didn't intend to attack you personally. It's just that your line about back-breaking workers who can't get a decent night's sleep fits perfectly into what the episode was actually about, and I hope that those who actually watch the show recognize that.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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qbird
material girl
Reged: 09/02/02
Posts: 825
Loc: USA
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Watch the show a few times and you will see how those doctors and nurses work all the time with few breaks. It is always like a mad house in there, I don't know how they do it. The characters are very dedicated to their patients. I think they are just overwhelmed with the volume of patients that come in. They are understaffed and overworked.
They have had a lot of security problems like several doctors have been attacked on past episodes, and one doctor was even killed by a patient. I have watched this show since it began and just saw this episode as an addict who was trying to get a fix not as a pain patient. The doc did give him a script for Vicodin which sent him into a frenzy since he did not get his drug of choice.
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kandi
Veteran
Reged: 05/07/02
Posts: 676
Loc: Maryland
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Quote:
Did he get the meds?
LMAO!
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Monte Montgomery ROCKS!
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