Opinions are like Assholes.....

....and there are plenty of both floating around here today.

Apparently, I have upset a migraineur.

My opinion is that the family of Edith Rodriguez is not entitled to millions of dollars for her death, because though it is a tragedy that she died, her previous drug-seeking behavior was a major contributing factor in her death. I think that one of the reasons that our healthcare system is floundering right now is that there are a whole shit-ton of people with a huge sense of entitlement and absolutely no sense of personal responsibility.

I can back this up with a anecdotal evidence from a minimum of 20-25 patients each night in my ER. (Note I said minimum.)

Did I say that everyone on state-funded medical programs is abusing the system? No.

Did I say that drug-seekers never need legitimate medical care? No.

Did I say that she deserved to die just because she had been drug-seeking on previous visits? Nope, not that, either.

But apparently, a clairvoyant migraineur named Linda (since she left her name, I can't call her an anonymous troll, though she exhibits the behavior of an anonymous troll) has deduced -from the things that I didn't say- that I am "unfit for medicine as a career" and that my opinion is "is not the response of a professional person who is dedicated to healing nor, frankly, is it the response of a person with normal emphatic[sic] capabilities."

And with her incredible clairvoyant abilities, she has also figured out that "You obviously have allowed the job to beat those things out of you and have become so cynical that you can’t even see it."

But the best part was when she told me "You are the first and only person I’ve ever told to get out of medicine."

*sigh*

You're right, Linda. I am a horrible person. In fact, it's a wonder that I can even look at myself in the mirror in the morning after a long night of abusing patients with "migraines" that "just need some of that Dilaud-stuff."

I do terrible things to them the whole time they are in my ER. Things like *gasp* turning out the light, and *swoon* getting them a cold washcloth for their face and a warm blanket. You know, just in case they really do have a migraine. Since I know what it feels like, being a migraine sufferer, myself.

You seem to have a lot of anger, and some other issues as well.

"I couldn’t care less if you think I’m one of “those people” but I have been treated terribly and dangerously in the ER on two different occasions precisely because I said the word “migraine” in triage even though I have never asked for narcotics nor do I want to be treated with them. I have a family member who has a prescription for Vicodan[sic] and if I wanted to I could take them by the bucket full…I don’t because I’m not a drug addict and they don’t work for my migraines…Imitrex does, but sometimes I run out and become incapacitated. I have had a “doctor” try to give me an injection of a painkiller I’m allergic to because he did not read the chart—because he decided ahead of time that I’m one of “those people”.

I have never referred to anyone as "those people". Generally, if I'm referring to a group of people, I will be a bit more descriptive. For example, "Soul-Sucking Drug Seekers" is a term I would use to describe...... wait for it.... soul-sucking drug seekers.

I've also been known to refer to "Freakin' Florence and her Freakin' Fibromyalgia". (Though Florence can't pronounce her fake diseases, and when she says it, it sounds more like "fibromyalgiba" and "lumpus".) And now, thanks to the furor that started over at Scalpel's and ERNursey's, I have the "Whiny Migraineurs." (I never even knew that migraineur was a word until just recently. Go figure.)

Anyway, I want to thank you, dear Linda, for showing me the error of my ways. Thanks to your brilliant personality analysis (albeit of someone that you not only don't know, but that works in a field that you have absolutely no knowledge of) I now know that I am definitely in the wrong business. After all, you can only work in healthcare if you want to "help people", right?

But, shhh, don't tell anyone. After all, it's still a job. Even evil people gotta pay the bills. And with all of "those people" coming in night after night, I'll have job security for a long, long time.