Went there with a kidney stone, lots of pain. I’ve had them before, but I hadn’t had one in years, so I didn’t have any pain medication at home to deal with it. My own doctor was away so I couldn’t get help there right away.

The pain got so bad I had to leave work, and I wanted to get somewhere where I could get help before I couldn’t drive.

Sitting in the waiting room, with my side throbbing. Watched as people were taken in, until they finally got down to 4 of us that were left of the group I came in with.

Next thing I see is that they start taking patients in before us. One obviously had a cold and was wearing a mask, and the other was a university student with a headache.

It was at that point that I realized they were just playing games and I left.

They tend to assume that anyone who comes in complaining of severe pain is a drug addict looking for narcotics and they bump them to the bottom of the list.

I’ve seen it before. I waited for over 5 hours once, and when I got in there the doctor accused me of asking for demerol. I hadn’t asked for anything, I just said I was in a lot of pain.

Not everyone who shows up in pain is a drug addict. They may legitimately be in real pain and need help.

I’ve seen people in there who were obviously addicts, and they try everything they can, desperate to trick the doctors and nurses into giving them drugs. Their behavior is radically different from someone in real pain.

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that everyone who walks through the door is a drug addict just because they complain that they’re in pain.