Questionable Prescribing Experience

I had to take my daughter to the emergency room because she was experiencing severe stomach pain. When we arrived, she was briefly evaluated in triage. Her pain was so intense that they said they would move her into a private emergency room and administer morphine even before a doctor examined her.

We immediately told the triage nurse about Nikki’s chemical sensitivities and explained that she could not take morphine. As soon as we said that, everything changed. Instead of being taken to a room, she was sent back to the waiting area, where she vomited repeatedly from the pain and waited for hours.

When she was finally admitted, she remained in excruciating pain with no diagnosis and no relief. Her pain escalated to the point where she could barely tolerate it. She asked for something simple—just a Motrin. Even that took a couple of hours to receive. In hindsight, it was hard not to notice that morphine would have been administered within minutes.

Shortly after taking the Motrin, her pain eased. She was diagnosed with a passing kidney stone and discharged soon after.

In total, Nikki spent fourteen hours in the ER—thirteen of them in severe, unnecessary pain—essentially because she refused morphine.