Suspended now for taking prescription meds

[pinkdotsdream]

This will be long, but i will try to put in paragraphs to make it easier to read. i know i can't get legal advice here.

I am a unit clerk on a busy floor at a huge trauma center on midnight shift. for the last year or so every time i turn around i am getting called into the nurse managers office for petty BS.

well i don't want to give too many details about myself in case any coworkers come here. but, i have a severe, chronic medical problem thatb everyone knows about and have b een hospitalized for this very frequently and am in the ER on a regular basis due to pain and nausea. everyone knows this.

i chronically take two diff pain meds for this from a pain dr. they know this also. about three wks ago, manager comes in an immediately called me in the office and stated that earlier that morning she had received several phone calls from diff people telling her numrous lies about me. let me back up and state that earlier that n ight i was looking for something in my bag and it was in the very bottom so i ended up taking out three pill bottles that were in my way and then the phone rang interrupted me and i got up to take care of the phone call and then went to the bathroom and when i got back to my desk i put the meds away.

back to the managers office that morning. she said that the people said i had *and she named eachmed* out on my desk all night and that i acted high at work, that i stated i was delerious at work, that i stated i onky go to the er to get my fix and that i did no work that night and that i lifted my shirt up and gave myself a shot. they know dam well that was insuliun. this group of nurses hate me and are trying to get me fired any way that they can.

i told manager that i did have the meds onthe desk for about 5 minutes and that i adamantly deny everything else that was said about me.

manager marched right down to employee health and i was taken into a room with 2 nurse practitioners and manager left. i was grilled on what meds i take and why - all my meds, prevacid and tuff that is not narcotics they wanted to know about too. they never asked to see the prescription bottles that i had with me, but then gave me a urine drug screen. i said i am going to light this up from my meds and because i was in the er 2 out of the last 3 days and was given large amounts of iv diaudud for my pain. i signed a release for them to talk to all my doctors and eve said they could look up all of my med. recs. in the computer and that they could obtain my er records as well. i did not give them permission to talk to my pain dr at this pt.

nurses then told me i was now suspended fromwork with no pay until this was resolved. told me i had to go to outpt drug/alcohol rehab and have an interview and they would decide what to do with me.

i left in tears. rehab appt. was not until the next week. i am divorced and penniless now with no pay. mom comes to my house and takes me to rehab and i alone meet wth counselo who was rude to me and stated after talking to me for 5 min that i was a severe drug addict and i needed to go to inpt detox. appt lasted for 1 1/2 hours. she said if i refused to go to rehab i will be losing my job inshort order so i said i would go. it was in another state too.

told my dad hat happened and he said no, we are going to fight them over this. so we did and to just end this story i had a meeting with employee relations wherein i was told sinc i refused rehab i had to write a letter disputing what coworks said, bring inmy pain meds so they could copy the labels which i did and that they would have to talk to my pain dr before i can go back to work because my dilaidid level was so high. i see pain dr ontues so after i tell him what is going on then they can talk to him. when i called up emp. relations and screanmed at them that i hired an attorney and was going to sue them, they acked right down and even paid me for two weeks worth of pay. so i am still out of work, until they talk to pain dr.

does anybody know if a dilaudid level of 5500 is high considering i got it at the er in large amts right before urine test taken.

on of st

sorry so long and i left a ton of stuff out.

thanks,

red shoes:sniff:

[cjmjmom]

As long as you took meds according to physician orders you will most likely be okay. If I were you I would not speak to anyone else, manager or co-worker, about this incident and seek the advice of a reputable employment law attorney. Also, you may want to consider rescinding any and ALL permission you have given to your physcian's and ER and all other interested parties regarding your health information until your attorney advises. Unfortunately there are many people in health care who are know very little about chronic pain including drug counselors. You may want to consult another who has history and knowledge regarding chronic pain patients. Good luck to you!

[Dolce, RN]

Because I don't know your diagnosis and haven't actually seen you at work on your medications it is very hard for me to say whether or not your workplace did the right thing. I know that often workplaces will "railroad" an employee and frame them in order to get them to quit. It is possible this is the situation. I know that many people are judgmental of people who take narcotics for chronic pain and this may be a stereotype that you are having to deal with. But, there are people who abuse narcotics--even those legally prescribed by their physician. I'm so sorry you are struggling right now. I really can't give you any advice but I hope you are able to come to a resolution with this job. I would suggest obtaining legal council.

[oslogirl]

Hi. I am not giving you legal advice, but from what you say, it sounds as if you may be eligible for disability. You did'nt mention what the cause is of your chronic pain.

As for the treatment you received from work; it sounds terribly unfair. Why rehab?? If you are taking meds as prescribed for your condition, rehab should not even enter this equation, unless, and this is a big unless; you feel you may have a probllem there. r Have you contacted legal aid in your area to obtain some help?

I'm sorry to hear you are going through so much. I hope things look up for you soon.

[Bettybooppp...]

So sorry to here about your situation. As an honest person we would like to think people would understand and accept that not all of us are as fortunate as others health wise. In the last 10 years or so, I have learned that most of the time it is just the opposite. Unless someone has personally dealt with a chronic pain issue they tend to be very judgemental. As a nurse with some health issues of my own, I seem to constantly be defending the rights of my pt's to be administered the pain medications their Dr. has prescribed. I realize the huge stigma that is attached to prescribed narcotics has come from the world wide abuse of these drugs. Unfortunately there are still many conditions that require their use for quality of life with certain diseases. I am not defending the behaviour of your co-workers, please do not misunderstand what I am about to say and maybe my view of this is cowardly but because of the fear people seem to have I think you would bring yourself a lot less heart ache in the future

by tryng to keep your health issues private. I realize you said you are in the emergency room alot and co-workers know your buisness, but if you don't offer any other info, keep your medications private and take your insulin privately I think you will find that people have short attention spans and will be focusing on someone else very soon. It would be wonderful if the world could learn to think as individuals and assess each situation in it's own light but as of right now that is not the case. I wish you the best of luck and think you are right to fight what is happening to you.

[leslie :-D]

wow...

i'm really sorry to read of your situation.

given that you're seeing a pain specialist but still need to go to the er for pain mgmt, i'm wondering if you would qualify for disability?

i can relate to your anguish and frustration.

i've had a similiar experience on the job, except it had nothing to do with narcotics...

it was r/t an antipsychotic i had been prescribed when i was dx'd with ptsd.

not everything in life is fair...

you know that now.

people are going to talk, esp when they don't know what they talk of.

but after honestly assessing yourself, i believe you should fight for what you believe is right or wrong.

wishing you much strength in your journey ahead.

leslie

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I would get yourself a good lawyer now. And kudos to your dad.

And find another job STAT or, as has been said, you really should qualify for disability. I'd take it, and on that hospital's dime if you can.

We are such Puritans in this country about pain. And idiots. I can't tell you about the trouble Ive gotten into when advocating for better pain meds. One was dying with a subdural hematoma and I could hear him crying at the nurses' station, and another came back from an inoperable broken hip, tears running down her face, with orders for NOTHING except Tylenol. I was told that I was perceived as "pushing pain meds."

Fools.

Fight this.

[loricatus]

The only thing I can think of that can be held against you is showing up for work with dilaudid in your system; but, you are not involved in patient care, so that aspect can't be an issue unless your employee manual has across the board policies for working while on narcotic medications.

Also, I think you should have involved your pain doctor in this immediately. However, if he was unaware of the dilaudid, you may have some problems using the ER for additional pain meds. Best involve him ASAP. Don't you just love it when non-physicians start practicing without a license by making medical judgements that affect your livelyhood [hint;)] ?

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

I agree with the others. Make haste and retain a reputable employment law attorney. If you can't afford a private attorney, call the Legal Aid Society in your State.

[lpnflorida]

I believe the person who advised you to look at your employee manual has a good point. The two facilities I have worked at both of them stated pretty clearly no one was to come to work under the influence. I recall injurying my back years ago, when the pain was severe enough to require the use of a narcotic I stayed home as I perceived to take it and work would be under their catagory of " under the influence, when I was able to be up and about with nsaid's that was when I returned to work,whether I had a prescription for a narcotic would be besides the point as far as my facility was concerned"

[morte, LPN, LVN]

under the influence and using are two different things....but proving which is occuring is the issue

[Vito Andolini]

This is an excellent example of why we should not tell our personal business at work, should not let anyone at work know about our medical conditions and medications, should not go to the ER at our own hospital. Privacy is a treasure that is fast disappearing in America and in the world in general. Cameras everywhere, internet comments readable by anyone and everyone, etc.

I wish you luck and I'd say get a lawyer. If you know you have done nothing wrong, they need to be punished for treating you this way.

Just curious - you say the nurses hate you and want to get rid of you. Why? Do you not get work done? Are you on the phone or computer unrelated to work? Are you too sick to work? Do you disappear? Why would your coworkers hate you and want you gone? is it a personality thing?

Also - what in God's name were you thinking to leave your meds on the desk while you walked away? You were wanting everyone to look at them, one might imagine. Another very, very serious thought - what if someone had gotten hold of your meds and stolen them? Or ingested them and had a bad reaction or overdose? I just can't imagine what you were thinking to leave them out like that, in plain sight and in reach of anyone and everyone.

Another thing - I'm guessing that you talk way, way too much about your problems and people find it scary that you are coming to work on such huge doses of pain med. You might be unwittingly painting yourself as a drug user. What people hear, I guess, is "morphine; dilaudid; methadone; whatever other narcotic", not "I have such and such condition and this is what the doctor gives me for it." Make a decision right now to never discuss anything but the weather with your coworkers. Don't even talk about their personal stuff. Sorry if I'm misreading or misinterpreting.

Oh, something else - why do you need ER visits if your pain doctor is supposed to be managing your case? Sounds like not too good a job is being done by this doctor. Have a real down to earth talk with him and let him know you need better relief from him so you can stay out of the ER. Or maybe you need a different pain doctor.

I love the part about how they backed down when you stood up for yourself. Of course, screaming at them probably wasn't such a great idea.

Good luck.