One of the themes of Gods of America is that the deities of the old world came to America in the hearts of their followers, but over time lose their followers and thus their power. A war is arranged between the ‘old gods,’ and the new ones that Americans have instituted. In the story, media, technology, entertainment and others are the new deities for a new age.
I thought about it as I considered my work. It seems that every day of my life is an endless discussion about narcotics in the emergency department. Or is it a kind of liturgy to another new god?
‘Can’t I get no Lortabs?’
‘I can’t take Percocet, all I can take is Dilau, Dilaud, what is it called? Dilaudid? I don’t know anything about those drugs, you know!’
‘I’m allergic to the 5mg Vicodin, but I can take the 1omg Vicodin just fine!’
‘Somebody stole my Fentanyl patches and my Morphine pills, and all of my Oxycontin and all I have left is my Methodone, and I only have a few but I don’t see the pain doctor for another month. Now what am I supposed to do, doctor, just suffer?’
‘My nerves are torn up. I’m out of Xanaxes and my brother’s friends came over and stole all of my Klonopin and Valium! Sure, I still got some Ativan, but look at how I’m shaking! Oh, and I’m out of Suboxone.’
‘See, doctor, I have the degenerating disc disease. I guess I’ve had chronic back pain since I was, oh, 14. That’s ten years I’ve suffered! Nobody will do anything for me, so I just take pain pills wherever I can get them. Can I get some Percocet?’
I could go on. It’s dialog in a bad novel. It’s a sonnet to somnolence. It’s an endless homage to anesthesia. It’s all but worship.
So it must be a religion. The people I see are worshippers of pain medication and anxiety medication. Or maybe, they worship pain and anxiety, and the offer up the drugs to their deities. Or perhaps they are slipping into amazing dream states, sleeping all the time, and having ephiphanies of wonder and delight. Scratch that. They’re dreaming of television and snack food. Of reality shows and disability payments.
And the object, or objects of their worship are taking a terrible toll in lives lost, as epidemic prescription drug abuse sweeps across the land. (https://oxywatchdog.com/category/surveys-statistics/.) It’s enabled by a culture that in its own way worships disability and victimization, incapacity and the medicalization of all things.
It makes sense, really. We cannot possibly suggest that anyone isn’t telling the truth, because a) truth is relative and defined by each person and b) to suggest that would be poor customer service, or discrimination or to be ‘judgmental.’ Furthermore, we reject anything that might suggest an individual take responsibility, or make good moral decisions because morality is relative and faith is irrelevant.
Thus, the internal discord and evil and even legititimate suffering of the human heart must be medical, must be made somatic and mechanistic so that it can be treated mechanistically, and so that no one need concern themselves with uncovering the layers of difficulty and untruth in the human heart, no one need ask hard questions or suggest that one may have guilt or fear for good reasons. All we want to do is call it a ‘pain’ and offer it a ‘pill.’
Well there you are, America. We worship at the feet of pain and pills. We offer our young and our old and our middle aged and vital to the sleepy gods who accomplish so little and cost so much and offer only restless dreams and ultimately breathless deaths.
I will not worship them. I hate them. But I acknowledge their power.
Hi Ed. Enjoyed your post! And I agree, as I see parents offering up their own children, spouses offering to sacrifice their marriages, workers ready to burn their jobs in the belly of Narcotic Baal. Entire families swallowed up and checked out. As an ER nurse and soon to be Practitioner carrying a Christian banner, I wish I could reach them all. Impossible. I do find,however; that on rare occassions there is that one willing to listen (at least until discharge)while you plant a seed that if allowed to grow would set them free. A pleasant fiction. Thanks.
edwin davis
10 years ago
Wow, suddenly I have hope for physicians after reading your article. I dream that someday soon we take over medicine and do it right this time. Could it be that some of us are interested in not only taking care of people but also taking back our craft from the Godless machine of insurance and government? I was born and raised in East Tennessee and dream of going back one day to finish my career. thanks for putting your thoughts in words for us to read- now I have to find out what else you’ve written and go through it… Read more »
I am one of those you described. I was a Program Director until needing surgery for diverticulitis. Then an open partial colectectomy, with no pain meds. Bit My back and joints still hurt. Went to the doctors in my HMO and all said I was fine, just needed to exercise. I just found out I have severe osteoarthritis in my hip and need a new hip. AShould I get any pain relief fom that. I have never been a drug abuser but over 20 yeaqrs ago I was on SSDI. I manged to get off and had a good career.… Read more »
That is a great tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Short but very accurate info… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read article!
Steve Acosta
10 years ago
Edwin-
A good commentary but most of the people you quoted (and I have no doubt that all of those were actually uttered by someone who must have imagined you were wearing your ‘Talk To Me Like I’m Stupid’ button that day)are not worshiping at the altar of Pain, just Pills. Almost no one is actually in pain, other than the pain of having to deal with reality unimpaired. And, sadly, society seems to be saying that this is OK.
Amanda Ryden
10 years ago
Frankly I think the new religion is data points. Hospitals are focusing on data points not patients and are firing doctors for not meeting data points such as LOS. These are docs who have fewer 72 hour returns, more compliments and less complaints -from anybody. New religion, data points.
ags
10 years ago
Edwin, Amen and thank you for writing so truthfully about this subject! We must all work in the same ED! P.S. We are not the instigators of this epidemic
David L
10 years ago
I actually had a patient tell me they were allergic to “Baby Vicodin.” Perplexed I asked what was baby vicodine and was promptly informed “I can only take the 10 mg.”
Flt RN
10 years ago
Ed, I have shared your post with many. I have worked in emergency medicine for several years. One of the other trends I have noticed that just leaves me just perplexed, is the sense of entitlement many of these people have. The aggression they think they have a right to show. I have been threatened too many times to count, called every thing one could imagine, been hit, kicked, spit on, peed on as all of us have, but the other day one of these patients; whom is a very well known seeker (God forbid we peg anyone with that… Read more »
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Hi Ed. Enjoyed your post! And I agree, as I see parents offering up their own children, spouses offering to sacrifice their marriages, workers ready to burn their jobs in the belly of Narcotic Baal. Entire families swallowed up and checked out. As an ER nurse and soon to be Practitioner carrying a Christian banner, I wish I could reach them all. Impossible. I do find,however; that on rare occassions there is that one willing to listen (at least until discharge)while you plant a seed that if allowed to grow would set them free. A pleasant fiction. Thanks.
Wow, suddenly I have hope for physicians after reading your article. I dream that someday soon we take over medicine and do it right this time. Could it be that some of us are interested in not only taking care of people but also taking back our craft from the Godless machine of insurance and government? I was born and raised in East Tennessee and dream of going back one day to finish my career. thanks for putting your thoughts in words for us to read- now I have to find out what else you’ve written and go through it… Read more »
I am one of those you described. I was a Program Director until needing surgery for diverticulitis. Then an open partial colectectomy, with no pain meds. Bit My back and joints still hurt. Went to the doctors in my HMO and all said I was fine, just needed to exercise. I just found out I have severe osteoarthritis in my hip and need a new hip. AShould I get any pain relief fom that. I have never been a drug abuser but over 20 yeaqrs ago I was on SSDI. I manged to get off and had a good career.… Read more »
That is a great tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Short but very accurate info… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read article!
Edwin-
A good commentary but most of the people you quoted (and I have no doubt that all of those were actually uttered by someone who must have imagined you were wearing your ‘Talk To Me Like I’m Stupid’ button that day)are not worshiping at the altar of Pain, just Pills. Almost no one is actually in pain, other than the pain of having to deal with reality unimpaired. And, sadly, society seems to be saying that this is OK.
Frankly I think the new religion is data points. Hospitals are focusing on data points not patients and are firing doctors for not meeting data points such as LOS. These are docs who have fewer 72 hour returns, more compliments and less complaints -from anybody. New religion, data points.
Edwin, Amen and thank you for writing so truthfully about this subject! We must all work in the same ED! P.S. We are not the instigators of this epidemic
I actually had a patient tell me they were allergic to “Baby Vicodin.” Perplexed I asked what was baby vicodine and was promptly informed “I can only take the 10 mg.”
Ed, I have shared your post with many. I have worked in emergency medicine for several years. One of the other trends I have noticed that just leaves me just perplexed, is the sense of entitlement many of these people have. The aggression they think they have a right to show. I have been threatened too many times to count, called every thing one could imagine, been hit, kicked, spit on, peed on as all of us have, but the other day one of these patients; whom is a very well known seeker (God forbid we peg anyone with that… Read more »