Maltreatment from an Emergency Room Doctor

Visiting an emergency usually entails having the need to receive treatment or diagnose an illness. Emergency rooms provide immediate medical service especially to those who urgent care and the medical staff from the assistants to the doctors must be able to help in any way. But what if you get neglected by the doctor assigned to you in an emergency room?

I had this experience a few months ago when I visited an emergency room. I am hypertensive and I must be able to control my blood pressure in order to prevent any untoward incidents such as strokes or even heart attacks. High blood pressure can induce those conditions. So I came in and true enough, my blood pressure was indeed high at 150/100. I wasn't really feeling well and my head hurts a lot so I decided to come in.

Having a history of TIA or Transient Ischemic Attack, I am susceptible to stroke so I really need treatment that day. It was a busy day since all seats in the emergency room were taken and there were more or less 40 patients in the emergency at one time. It is understandable that they can't accommodate every request since they can only do so much. However, they should have prioritized patients who need immediate treatment.

To my surprise, I was told to stay put. We were worrying since I'm still having headaches and my nape hurt a lot even when I was just relaxing. An hour passed by and nothing happened. We asked a nurse to take my blood pressure and it was still that high. I wasn't given any treatment and when I saw the doctor, she said that she forgot that I was there.

Now that's a surprise. So I waited again and then after an hour she told me that I'll be fine and my ECG taken months before that was fine. That's another blunder. Why would she assume that my ECG from a few months ago will have the same result as what I had that day? So she discharged me and gave instructions to continue my medications without even telling us what she found out and why she's discharging me without treatment.

We just bought what my regular cardiologist told me to take whenever my blood pressure is high. Thankfully, I became better. But I did not let that incident pass. I contacted the hospital administrators and reported that doctor. She was reprimanded since she really did not seem to care about me that day and some other patients also complained about her behavior.

Well, whatever happened between her and the hospital administrators is up to them. The important thing is I got better even without her help. So if you happen to visit an emergency room for immediate treatment, don't hesitate to get their attention. If they did not treat you right, you have all the right to complain about them.