A brief foray into the realm of WTF?
I had the pleasure of listening to a patient's husband argue (in all seriousness) with the doctor about whether or not it was illegal to drive under the influence of Morphine.
He had a Morphine pump for his back pain issues, and he said he'd been driving with it for years and it was perfectly legal because.....
wait for it....
he had a prescription.
The great irony? He was supposed to be his wife's ride home after she received her fix therapeutic interventions. They both had to hang out for a while until they could find somebody that was not narcotically enhanced to give them a ride home.
Bummer, dude.
10 comments:
It's going to be ok though because now he is going to go back to his pain Dr. and yell about what the &$*# @## ER Dr. did to him. Since this is a perfect world the pain Dr. will call the DMV.
mg,
you have done this already but you may want to play again.
911doc
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Perhaps the fact that he has been on a Morphine pump for "YEARS" has killed off a few more brain cells than we might think...
I know that pain is subjective, but come on... I've had "chronic" back pain since middle school for no apparent reason... I was still able to have 3 children with nothing more than a Motrin AFTER giving birth... Yes, I know. I'm cool. You may kiss my monkey feet now.
And no... I didn't have my 3 kids WHEN I was in middle school. I'm a monkey, not a rabbit.
(narcotically enhanced) Sounds like a rock band....nice post!
Monkeysister sounds funny/very cool!
I too had nothing more than a tylenol (ibuprofen makes me puke) after my kids were born each time. I had c-sections, and have to say that even after my hysterectomy I only took tylenol. I am allergic to morphine and codeine anyway (but not a drug seeker at all), and didn't want to mess around finding out what else I may be allergic to.
Different states have different laws, of course, but most of them state that if the medication does not impair your judgment or reaction to under those of a "normal" person, then it is legal to drive while taking a prescription narcotic.
Some states have laws about driving more than x number of hours per day or if you have had less than x number of hours of sleep, since those can both also cause impairment of reaction. In many states, yes, it is perfectly legal for him to drive, assuming that there is not a level of impairment that would cause him to be a danger.
Awesome post, yet again. *thumbs up*
I'm working in a pain management practice while in nursing school and it's been a huge departure from the world of cardiology and OB/GYN practices I'm used to.
Our doctors do some procedures in office and usually give a hefty Zanaflex/Lortab combo as pre-med. No matter how many times I tell someone they have to have a driver, there is always that one who says they're not affected as much by the meds and can drive. These are usually the ones trying to call early for refills on their narcotics.
It's unbelievable to me how many people are out and about every day driving lit up like Christmas.
I've been taking hydrocodone for pain for several years now, as well as muscle relaxers and various other medications. I have always made it a policy that if I have to drive the next day, I do not take them. Around here, if you're driving under the influence it doesn't have to be liquid. If I don't have to go out, I take the pills so I can get a decent night's sleep.
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