Should We Prosecute When Patients Attack?

 ZDoggMD has point about healthcare professionals being attacked… but.. often times the healthcare professional is nothing more than a messenger of the corporation that they work for, for the insurance company that is screwing around about coverage, or some governmental BS regulations.
Attack can be used to describe a large range of issues.. over the years .. I have VERBALLY accosted some hospital staff when Barb’s pain meds have been screwed with, dropped completely or some of reason that she was being left in a torturous level of pain unnecessarily.
I have up close and personal discussions with the nurse assigned to her, the charge nurse for the particular section of the hospital that she is in… Director of Nursing and even Administrators
I know what should be done, and what is being ignored and I know most of the “catch phrases” and industry jargon and they – normally – know that they are dealing with someone who knows the system, and probably knows how to cause them personally trouble for not doing their job.
I am not too sure that we need to put more of our society in jail… we already have the highest percentage of our population in jail/prison than any other civilized country. ZDoggMD mentions the “opiate crisis” several times in this 10 minute clip and we don’t know how many of those who are substance abusers aren’t dealing with major mental health issues and may be suffering from PTSD from cycling from being high to the depths of withdrawal – that they call “dope sick”..
How many intractable intractable chronic pain pts , in particular, that are given – at best – enough pain meds to give them some pain relieve 8-12 hrs a day and then thrown into intolerable level of pain for the balance of the 24 hr day.  Do they take their meds to get a good night sleep and stay in pain the balance of the 24 hr period and maybe chair/bed confined.   Are they suffering from PTSD as well… what about their spouse that has to watch them go thru this every day… how close to “the edge” are they ?  One more message from the prescriber that the pt’s meds are going to be reduced again … that the spouse does not SNAP ?
Is the pt or spouse ATTACKING the healthcare professional or just SHARING THEIR PAIN with them ?
Is putting these people in jail really the answer… jail hasn’t stopped people from shooting others… the death penalty hasn’t stopped some people from killing others… could it be that we have a very serious – nearly epidemic level – of mental health in this country ?

14 Responses

  1. Regardless of situation, pain patient such as myself or addict, people should be treated with dignity and respect and everyone deserves proper treatment.. Why can’t we be kind?

    • Probably because our lives are being destroyed because of the voluntary actions of a bunch of people who care about nothing on Earth other than getting high. And those are the people who are getting all the help, treatment, & civil rights protections, while we have NONE. They get treated with far, far more dignity than CPPs do.

      Their VOLUNTARY behavior is destroying the lives of millions who did absolutely nothing wrong or illegal. I’m afraid my level of concern & swooning over the poor, poor addicts is…non-existent. I grew up with one & learned at an early age that an addict will destroy EVERYTHING and EVERYONE around them in order to get their next high.

      When heroin syringes begin chasing people down & injecting themselves, I’ll start being all sugary toward them.

      • Should I apologize for being civil? Just cannot do it.

        • certainly I didn’t mean that you should apologize for being civil. I used to be a polite & decent person who didn’t really wish ill on anyone, & I admire those who are better than I am & can maintain such a high level of decency. I (obviously) have long-standing & deep issues with extreme addicts due to my experiences. The fact that I & millions of chronic pain patients are being forced into medically approved torture because of people like the one I grew up with has left me in such a bone-deep rage for so long, I know i’m not such a decent person any more. I regret it, but I regret more the fact that “those” people caused this national insanity & hysteria & the forced torture of me & millions. I regret even more the fact that I had to watch my mother die in unspeakable agony because the actions of “those” people caused her doctor to deny her any pain medication at all in her last weeks, when there was absolutely NO question that she was dying.

          I agree with you that people should be treated with dignity & should get proper treatment. But the people who are bearing the brunt of this national insanity are not the ones who caused it. And those who are behind the real problem get all the sympathy & free programs & help & assistance. This utter violation of sanity & decency has eroded my own character & decency. I admire those who can remain above the bitterness & rage…I just find I am unable to do that myself.

          • I can understand that, canarensis, as my meds have been messed with too. Fortunately, I still get narcotics but now being changed from oral meds to dilaudid injections which was long-acting changing to short. Don’t know when this is over how many shots per day. Great for quality of life. I saw where a guy with gobs of heroin got 6 months in jail – period. I do understand your frustration.

            • louisva;
              Thank you. And I am very sorry that (A) you understand my frustration [it’s sorta like being glad to have company in the boat, but the boat is the Titanic. Why do we have to be put in a situation where we DO understand the insanity??], and (B) that your life & health has also been screwed up by this hysteria.

              I am sorry my bitterness & rage sounded as if I were going after you. I really do admire anyone who can maintain their decency in the face of this madness.

              I saw that news about the guy with huge quantities of heroin getting less of a punishment than many doctors who’ve done nothing wronger than try to help real pain patients. I’ve gone from expecting to find the Dormouse & Mad Hatter at my breakfast table to actually hoping I wake up to find myself transformed into a giant cockroach. Since we’ve already passed through the looking glass stage & are well into Kafkaesque, I hope maybe cockroaches don’t have as much in the way of pain issues as humans do.

              Or at the least, if I did find myself changed into a monstrous insect, maybe I could chase down the lunatics, idiots, & venal sadists who are behind our governmentally sanctioned torture & use my cockroachy mandibles to introduce them to new experiences in pain. Bring ’em onto the boat with us.

              Best wishes to you, & hopes that eventually the pendulum swings back somewhere near sanity. And that we can stand it until it does.

  2. Or could it be that we have a “very serious -nearly epidemic level–” of criminal patient abandonment for absolutely no good or sane reason whatsoever? And that those patients who’ve been stable on their meds for years & decades are now being thrown into the most unspeakable torture & depthless rage because of the propaganda actions of a group of zealots & the lazy, moronic, ineffectual attempts at decades of the “War on Drugs”?

  3. The relatively carefree life of someone healthy and with a good income while lacking empathy or what the Bible calls ‘fellow feeling’ makes them hyper-protective of these things and quick to agree with other like them and launch pre-emptive strikes on rumors of ‘monsters under the bed’. They view this as “security”. At its worst, of course, it creates occasions those sick and poor and meek can only call murderous greed and stupidity. Going back to that old Bible again we hear God tell us that what is missing is love. Many are far, far from home.

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