Join the Fun!

#2

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met I used to be a medical oxygen tech, mostly doing in home work.

One guy was on such a high concentration that he would have drawn nearly zero oxygen from breathing regular atmosphere. This required 2 heavy duty machines hooked up in tandem just to keep him barely alive. This was explained ad nauseum to him and his wife with full signed documentation of every conversation.

They'd shut one machine off because they decided it was too loud. He'd take his mask off because he decided it was too cold. She would unplug the hose if she decided it was in the way. So on and so on, literally everything you could think of that would restrict or cut off his oxygen intake.

Then they would panic and call our emergency service when he started to have a reaction to no oxygen intake. I lived not even 5min away, right beside out EMS/Fire Station, and the call would always come to me to "fix" the machines at random times of the day and night, 3-7 days a week. They refused to call 911 because they 'didn't want to make a scene'.

This went on for ages, well over 18 months, until he was having trouble sleeping one night and shut the machines off before going back to bed. Its been years and I still see the wife around town, she always glares at me as if I'm the one who killed him.

TheAgentLoki , Mockup Graphics Report

Final score:

272points

POST

Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 1 year ago

How don't they understand-

135points

#3

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Woman comes in with no prenatal care to labor and delivery in labor.

OBGYN Resident taking a history: Do you have any allergies?

Patient: yes I’m allergic to water

Resident: …ok… what kind of reaction happens when you drink water?

Patient: oh it makes me pee

Yeah lady that’s a feature not a bug

xsate , Snapwire Report

Final score:

250points

POST

A Happy Doggo 1 year ago

“That’s a feature not a bug” lol

18points

To be fair, pre-modern health specialists had just as little common sense as some of the patients mentioned here. Bloodletting was a shockingly common procedure that generally left the person weak and more susceptible to disease, and it’s particularly strange how often it was employed given that at the time people did already know how important it was to have blood.

Traditional Chinese medicine goes even further, as one of the main funders of the ivory trade. Multiple animal species are at risk because people, despite living in a modern, educated society, still think a random rhino’s horn will magically heal them. Even though they can very easily compare the effects of traditional medicine compared to modern medicine, people still chose the former.

#4

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met I'm a vet. A few years ago I had a client bring his young cat in complaining of lethargy. Besides being a bit underweight, the physical exam was unremarkable so I asked more questions about the cat's diet:

Me: What do you feed the cat?

Owner: [online trendy raw food brand]

Me: How is his appetite? Does he finish what you feed him?

Owner: Yes, he always eats everything.

Me: How much do you feed him?

Owner: 1/2 cup.

Me: Once or twice daily?

Owner: Once every 3 or 4 days.

Me: ........ You only feed your cat twice a week?

Owner: I believe in a more natural feeding approach, and based on my research that's how often cats eat in the wild.

This owner was slowly starving his cat to death based on some cockamamie idea he'd made up watching National Geographic. I had to explain to him that domestic cats are not tigers, and that small wildcats eat 10-20 small meals daily. Surprise surprise the cat's lethargy and weight improved with regular feeding.

birdlawprofessor , Lucas Pezeta Report

Final score:

237points

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Shy Sheps 1 year ago

Shoulda had the poor thing taken from him

197points

#5

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met I'm in the ER. So many stories.
The one that left me dumbfounded was a woman was brought in by her sister for pelvic cramps, amenorrhea for three months. Lo and behold, she's pregnant.
Sister informs me that she sleeps with the Brazilian construction workers building the condo complex next door.
I ask if they have any questions.
The patient asked me if her baby would come out speaking Spanish.
After a long pause, and her sister staring at the ceiling, I told her, No, because they speak Portuguese in Brazil.
Patient seemed relieved and the sister hustled her out of the ER before I could discharge her.

AMostSoberFellow , clark cruz Report

Final score:

227points

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Scott Rackley 1 year ago

one of the better comebacks I've heard of

97points

#6

Lady brings her baby into the ER with a rectal temp of 103. Kids tachy as hell and looks like s**t.

Refuses all medications. Says she doesn't believe in them and wonders why her herbal tea (she brought a jug of it) isn't working.

Wants us to just check her out. Thinks a children's emergency room just checks them out.

Try to explain why the kid needs an nsiad. Keeps refusing. Says she doesn't know what's in it. I bring up that fact she had her kid in a hospital, and that she recovered medication herself (IV, epidural, etc). Doesn't budge.

Only concerned for herself, told her that when the kid has a seizure or goes unresponsive and you call 911, you can expect the medics to give the kid everything it needs regardless of whether you like it or not.

Only when the doc threatened to contact social services for child endangerment and abuse did she start to listen. For like 5 whole seconds.

Left against medical advice. People like this exist and breed.

CaptAsshat_Savvy Report

Final score:

224points

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Fat Harry 1 year ago

I think by NSIAD she means NSAID = Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug. Ibuprofen, for example.

103points

QuailPuzzled1286 , Jonathan Borba Report

Other attempts to systematically approach medicine have just as many strange ideas. The ancient Greeks, for all their developments, still believed that the body was run by four humors that correspond, improbably, to earth, wind, water, and fire. How exactly earth and fire were vitally important to the operation of our body was never properly explained, as one doesn’t have to be a modern scientist to see how fire can hurt a lot more than it heals.

#7

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Not me but my mother would pick up shifts as a nurse sometimes in Labour and Delivery and she had met a handful of women who didn’t know the baby was going to be coming out of their vaginas. Like no clue. My mom usually said something like “how you got it in is how it’s coming out honey”. This was the late 90 early 2000s.

Final score:

218points

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Ace 1 year ago

I guess this is what you get if sex ed at school is allowed to be optional.

43points

#8

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Optometrist here. If I had a nickel for every time someone said they use urine for eyedrops I would have $0.10. Which is not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

Aeder42 , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:

210points

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Michelle M 1 year ago

I’m shortsighted, so I use contact lenses all the time. When I was still wearing glasses, I visited my paternal grandmother, and she advised me to always wash my eyes with my first urine in the morning. She was also shortsighted. I just nodded to avoid an argument. She didn’t know better.

59points

#9

Working midnight in the ER.

Family brings in a 4 year old at 2 am-ish. I ask them what is wrong.

Them: “Ask him (the 4 year old). He said he needed to see a doctor.”

Me: “Did he say anything was wrong?”

Them: “No. He said he needed to see a doctor, so brought him.”

[A quick back and forth that firmly establishes that they actually showed up in the ER at 2 am, purely because the 4 year old said he needed to see a doctor and they don’t know why]

Me to child: “Why do you need to see a doctor?”

Kid: “The doctor has suckers.”

Me: 😳

To be clear, it is the parents who lack sense and not the kid.

ToxDoc Report

Final score:

210points

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Mis Stake she/her 🇫🇮🇬🇧 1 year ago

smart kid

25points

Nearby-Sherbert-8549 Report

Medieval logic had a certain logic to it, however. Once you accept that the disease is supernatural, generally a sign or punishment from God, then the doctor can focus on treating the symptoms, as the cause is, obviously, the transgressions of the victim. This also meant that doctors could easily explain why draining a person's blood seemed to kill them, as really it was God’s punishment, not poor medicine at fault.

#10

I'm a nurse. This isn't about a patient rather than my dad. He is convinced that insulin is what is giving people diabetes and doctors are prescribing it just to make money. After 30 minutes of telling him why that's wrong, he said not to be so liberal and I didn't understand because I'm not a doctor...

Final score:

205points

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Brenda 1 year ago

*facepalm*

74points

#11

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Former vet tech. Had a women scream at me and my vet for telling her it's the law to have your dog vaccinated against rabies. She said the rabies vaccine causes autism in dogs and makes puppies stupid.

Side note: 3 weeks later her puppy died of parvo. She got another one immediately after and did not clean her home. 2 more died in the following months. Animal control and the city had to get involved.

angels_exist_666 , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

202points

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Nay Wilson 1 year ago

Poor puppies 🙁 I hate animal abuse and neglect more than anything

37points

#12

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Not me but my wife who is a vet: had a client who got mad at her because he didn't realize that once he neutered his dog that he wouldnt be able to breed it.

StrebLab , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

198points

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Boredest Disabled Panda 1 year ago

Um, what exactly did he think neutering was???

93points

This is also why people would often travel to monasteries to be healed. If the affliction is divine in nature, one would have to fix their relationship with God to get anything done. On the one hand, this would actually remove some sick individuals from urban centers, although we now can imagine the strain that pre-car overland travel would have on an ill individual.

#13

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Rural ER doc here: 35 year old female walks in with right sided jaw/neck swelling. “ I think it happened because I ate some meat yesterday that my body is reacting to” … 10 minutes later : “oh yeah, and I accidentally swallowed a bee and it stung me in my mouth right before this happened. Sorry I forgot to mention that”

Shoeflinger , Egor Kamelev Report

Final score:

197points

POST

Nina 1 year ago

/facepalm

55points

OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago

/beemouth

12points

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sylvantic 1 year ago

Unrelated but the bee in the photo is beautiful! Google tells me it’s likely an andrena haemorrhoa.

14points

Leo Domitrix 1 year ago

Aw, I feel that doc's pain. "And when did the back pain start?" "Sunday, outta nowhere." Then the wife got there and snapped, "Right after he threw the big-screen TV across the room cuz his team lost!"

11points

Debbie 1 year ago

The only reason I could think of is that the allergic reaction/swelling messed with her ability to think too? Let's hope that is the reason...

6points

Brenda 1 year ago

Lucky her obviously allergy didn't kill her

5points

HungryAardwolf 1 year ago

How would you swallow a bee? Personally me and my kind can usually differentiate between them and termites....

3points

Ken Beattie 1 year ago

Walking/cycling and the bee flew into her mouth most likely. I used to hate riding home at dusk because the mosquitoes would come out and it was like riding through a fog, only chunky and gritty >_<

1point

Load More Replies...

Trophy Husband 1 year ago

I work in IT. Used to work for a company that sold a product that protected your network. So the people you call for help when your computer breaks, would call me for help when my product breaks. Most of these are people with many years of computer experience, much higher percentage of college degrees than the average population, and average six figure salaries. So you would expect them to know how to call tech support, what to say, etc. No! I can't tell you how long they claimed nothing changed on their network and I have to figure out the problem is a piece of equipment that was swapped out over the weekend. They would usually say "oh, well we changed that, but that doesn't affect your system..." The moral of this story is it's not just uneducated people who aren't aware of everything and who assume everyone around them are omniscient! Oh, moral two is when you call tech support, start by giving a concise explanation of everything that could have led to the problem!

2points

🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 1 year ago

Maybe, where she’s from, getting stung in the mouth is a relatively common occurrence, and isn’t as juicy a story as a reaction to meat. 🤷🏾‍♂️

0points

Shelli Aderman 1 year ago

🤦🏽‍♀️

0points

cow_ 1 year ago

0points

#14

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met I worked ED for 10 years. Everyday. Everyday people come in and it shocks you how they managed to evade death for that long.

One of the worst was we had a guy come in. He was a twin. He told us he needed to get checked for STDs because his sister apparently just got one. We of course had to ask if he has had sex with her and he said no, but they were twins so what she has, so does he. After a collective sigh of relief that this wasn’t some weird Alabama your my sister s**t, we had to educate him that is not how it worked at all.

Noname_left , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:

196points

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Boredest Disabled Panda 1 year ago

They changed the name from venereal disease to Sexually Transmitted Disease to make it clear how these diseases happen and yet this guy still did not get it!

73points

#15

This was one of the funniest yet cutest one, was a studen doing a shift in Andrology/reproductive health

Doc: *So you’re trying to have kids but not managing to. So do you have any other kid?*

Patient: *yes Doc I have one.
*
Doc: *ok so we need to do this and this and that
*
Patient: *Ok great*

Then he proceeds to visit him and stuff, after which he goes away.

After a couple secs he knocked the door again saying: *Hello Doc, my wife told me that it would be relevant to you that the son I have is adopted, but that’s make no difference to me I always considered my own son!*

Albablu Report

Final score:

196points

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Jennifer Smith 1 year ago

I mean, that’s good he raises him as his own

104points

Many of these practices stayed around until the 19th century, when, finally, a more systematic approach was applied. George Washington, for example, had his blood drained as a response to a sore throat, which most likely made a common ailment worse and resulted in his death. There doesn't seem to have been a good understanding among medical specialists that the same procedure they had done for over a thousand years was, actually, killing people.

#16

Had an adult male patient who needed a Foley catheter. His mother was in the room, and they both lived together in the backwoods of TN. I informed them both of the order for a catheter, how it works, and why it was needed. His mother stated “Well he’s still a virgin and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with his virginity being taken in a hospital.”

blue_monkeys Report

Final score:

191points

POST

Brenda 1 year ago

😳🤭

59points

#17

Not a personal experience, but one from a colleague of mine (I only saw the pics).

So this 60 something year old suffers from an acute complication and gets a Pacemaker to solve the problem. Everything goes normally and as planned, he recovers, every care and meds that he needs to take are prescribed, explained and medical appointments with a Cardiologist/Arritmologist are scheduled so that he may get the follow-up he needs.

The man then prooceds to never show up to any appointment and never answear any calls from the hospital to know of him and reschedule. This went on for around 3 years. Until he shows up without former warning and asks to talk with the doctor that did the procedure to put his pacemaker. People are weirded out but seeing that on that day the doctor was present and this patient was in clear distress, they talk to him and manage a couple of minutes to have the doctor check on him.

Inside the appointment room, the doctor takes notice that this man is wearing a bra inside his shirt. The man explains he has been wearing his daughters bra for 3 months after his "problem" got worse. The shirt is asked to be taken off and there he stands, the shirtless man wearing his daughters bra, showing off the pacemaker, that should have been kept inside his body, dangling outside of it, being hold by the left bra cup, with a big infected open wound above it with the pacemaker leads still inserted onto his veins and connected to his heart.

Nobody has any idea how the man let that situation come to be or how he didnt die of sepsis or any other health problem that may appear for that matter.

TLDR: Man gets a Pacemaker. Doesnt show up to appointments. Three years later comes to the hospital looking for help, wearing his daughters bra for 3 months, to serve as a holder for the pacemaker that got out of his body from his infected open wound.

MonkBigT Report

Final score:

182points

POST

Olivia Carr 1 year ago

Me as a cardiac surgeon: wtf did I just read and why tf did I picture all the details of it?!

38points

#18

A family members worked at a hospital and had a patient come in with really strange physical and seemingly neurological issues.

Couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Didn’t match anything he knew of and tests were inconclusive.

He asked her to walk him through her day.
Turns out she was drinking a cup of bleach a day and bathing in it to keep clean and healthy her whole life. Same with her family…. Who all died very young.

She could not accept that drinking bleach was bad for her health.

Too_Shy_To_Say_Hi Report

Final score:

178points

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Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

I recall a President somewhere thinking something like this was also a good idea?...................

185points

#19

Had an 18 or 19 year old girl come in my ER with some complaint that required an X-ray. It’s standard that we do a urine pregnancy test prior to imaging on any female of childbearing years. She insisted she’d never had sex and there was zero possibility of pregnancy. We did the test anyway and it resulted that she was pregnant. We did a blood pregnancy test to confirm the result, since she insisted she couldn’t possibly be pregnant because she’d never had sex. That was positive too. We gave her a few minutes to herself to figure out what the hell happened, and when I returned to check on her a short time later she asked me if she could get pregnant even though her boyfriend, “didn’t go all the way in.” She 100% believed that long as his penis wasn’t entirely in her it didn’t count as sex. It took nearly a half hour of explaining reproduction to her for her to understand that whether it’s halfway in or all the way in sperm travel.

NAMomx3 Report

Final score:

173points

POST

Boredest Disabled Panda 1 year ago

And this, folks, is why sex education is important. Not that abstinence only nonsense some states teach instead.

237points

#20

I have a heard a story about a patient on whom it was impressed that she couldn't miss her fractions of radiotherapy if she was busy, and to inform us if she couldn't make the appointment.

She couldn't make it. So she sent her *twin sister* to receive the radiation therapy in her place. She answered yes to all the ID Questions. Had the same birthday etc.

It was noticed when radiographers had trouble matching her to the CT. Because the CT was of a person who had undergone a mastectomy. Whilst the "patient", still had both breasts.

This, many years later, is told to new staff during training about the importance of ensuring correct identification - because you would be stunned the number of people who try to skip the queue. The number isn't high. But it isn't Zero.

Kenobi_01 , nci Report

Final score:

173points

POST

Nina 1 year ago

What did the original patient think the mastectomy was for? And radiotherapy was just for funsies?

70points

#21

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Had a patient come in for facial burns because he smoked while wearing his oxygen....twice....in the same week....

MrWizard311 , aydin sefidi Report

Final score:

171points

POST

TAMI 1 year ago

Can't help everyone

60points

Conservative_Persona , PhotoMIX Company Report

#22

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Diabetic patient with foot ulcers that kept being infected with a lot of different gut microbes. Turned out he used to put his foot in the toilet and scrub the open ulcers with the toilet brush.

Final score:

166points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

"But I made sure all the poop and pee was flushed away first... I ain't stoopid y'know"

20points

#23

Had a buddy who was an EMT, he was called out to a location for a gunshot wound.

Apparently what happened is a father was mowing his lawn when he accidentally touched part of the mower near the engine and burned his hand. He got mad at the lawnmower, pulled out his pistol, and shot it. The bullet ricocheted and hit his son in the leg.

Kretuhtuh Report

Final score:

165points

POST

Fat Harry 1 year ago

Wow, I wonder what country this happened in?

153points

#24

Wife brought dude to the ED because he wasn’t really talking to her, or doing much for that matter. For 4 days!! Turns out he stopped taking his blood thinners because “I don’t feel any better when I take it” and they could not afford it (f*****g American healthcare system). Anyways, he had a huge stroke. Basically 1/4 of his brain was just liquified mush. Please Reddit, bring your loved ones to the ED immediately when they cannot talk to you. And for f***s shake, do not stop taking your anticoagulation unless a doctor tells you to stop.

RedMagic066 Report

Final score:

157points

POST

OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago

This is sad and, unfortunately, stupid.

68points

#25

I floated to the COVID floor when I was a new CNA at the hospital. A 40-something man with no history of breathing problems was on 5 Liters of continuous oxygen regardless of activity level. (For those who aren't medical, that is a lot for someone that age. Older folks on continuous oxygen are typically on 2 Liters during the day.) He told every single person who came into his room about how COVID was a hoax.

At that moment I realized how deranged people have become, and began to worry about my right-wing relatives. I was correct to worry, as when they got COVID they proceeded to take ivermectin and s**t their brains out, and STILL ARGUED WITH ME THAT IT WAS SMART TO TAKE IT.

Kenneth_Naughton Report

Final score:

154points

POST

Fat Harry 1 year ago

I bet none of them had worms though, right? So who's laughing now?!

78points

#26

I am a dermatologist in India. As is the culture here, people eat with their hands, and almost all of our curries or even other dry side dishes have a lot of turmeric. It is common knowledge to anyone born and brought up in India, that this means the nails of your dominant hand (statistically the right hand) are going to be yellow-stained, because we have seen this happen since our childhood. Usually this wears off in about a day and a half if you wash it a couple of times.
Cut to the first patient in my OPD, a young girl in her early 20s, very anxious.
Me : "What brings you here today?"
P : "Doc, my right hand fingernails keep getting yellow discoloured."
Me : "Only right hand ?"
P : "Yes. And only after meals."
Me : "Erm..do you eat with your hands?"
P : "Yes, always."
Me : "So...You know it's just turmeric right?"
P : "Yes, but can you make it stop happening."
Me : "For God's sake, use a spoon."
P : "So you mean there is no medicine to make it stop?"
Me : ....
P : .....
Me : **NO**!

This might hit home more with people of South Asian cultures or people who habitually eat turmeric-cooked food with their hands. Anyway, for a grown-a*s person to complain of this was just well surprising and a little ridiculous.

Classic_Dust_8431 Report

Final score:

149points

POST

Ge Po 1 year ago

Doc, is there a medicine so my hair does not get wet when I stand in the rain?

85points

likeeggs , Cecilia Rodríguez Suárez Report

#27

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Saw a chart once where a person came in for a burn to their eye. They told the Dr they read online that warm milk in the eye can help with irritation and their eyes were irritated. So they BOILED milk and then poured it in their eye. Burned it all.

Final score:

148points

POST

cow_ 1 year ago (edited)

this patient should know there’s a difference between warm and boiling, and you shouldn’t trust all things you read online lol

59points

#28

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Former practicing surgeon:

Male came in with a small bowling pin up his backside, for the third time!

BeerisAwesome01 , engin akyurt Report

Final score:

139points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

Strike 3 and you're outtttttttttttttt !!!!!!!!!!

27points

#29

While in PA school I was educating a guy and his pregnant wife on a vasectomy. I’m about halfway through my deal when he cuts me off and asks, ‘Just give it to me straight, can I keep them in a jar after?’

…dude thought he was going to get his balls chopped off at the request of his wife. Needless to say he was very happy and much more on board to go through with the procedure. Props to him for thinking he was ~literally~ getting his balls removed to prevent having anymore kids.

vern420 Report

Final score:

138points

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Betsy Ray 1 year ago

Obviously that made a vas deferens to him.

298points

TheNonCredibleHulk Report

#30

"So, you're lactose intolerant?"

"yes"

"And you knew this before?"

"yes"

"And you drank a milkshake?"

"yes"

"What size?"

"Large"

The rest of the night was the kid screaming and groaning in the ED waiting room.

Final score:

137points

POST

TAMI 1 year ago

Darwin candidate

49points

#31

I always hate seeing the patient who weighs over 600lbs and comes to the ED for shortness of breath and refuses to acknowledge that their weight may have something to do with it. It’s not their weight that bothers me it’s the utter lack of common sense.

hlbnah20 Report

Final score:

133points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

I can imagine them saying, "You're fat shaming me. It's not my fault. You're a doctor, give me something for it or I'lll sue you "

73points

#32

I worked in cancer research/surgery a couple years ago. There is a good amount of people who will refuse to have a small removal/surgery because they think holistic medicine or praying it away will work. They always come back and we always have to remove so much more. One time a patient had a melanoma on their calf and the doctor wanted to do a simple wide excision, but they left because they wanted to pray it away. Came back a couple months later because it got bigger and we had to amputate their leg. Pretty sure they had positive lymph nodes at that point too.

Green0996 Report

Final score:

131points

POST

Timmy Pillinger 1 year ago

God made doctors.

92points

#33

Saw a comment once of a woman who was advised to eat a packet of oatmeal for breakfast each morning to help with her weight. She came back in for checkups over the course of many months and was somehow gaining weight faster and blood work was getting worse even though she swore up and down she was following the diet. Everyone was baffled until they questioned her further and learned that she had been eating a packAGE of oatmeal COOKIES every morning for breakfast.

lovelyladlelumps Report

Final score:

131points

POST

wowbagger 1 year ago

This is the best diet I've ever been on!

45points

#34

ER nurse with 7 years experience. The list is nearless endless. People with massive burns because they smoked in bed is not as rare as you'd think.

But the one that got me the most was a guy who came in for chest pain and fatigue. Ekg revealed he was having a really bad heart attack. Activated or cath lab for emergency stents to hopefully save the guys life. They almost always access the patient through the groin for the procedure so one of our jobs in the ER is to shave the patients groin to prep them for cath lab. We get the clippers out (we done use actual razors anymore) and informed the guy we needed to shave him. He refused. No problem, we will let cath lab do it once he's knocked out. Nope, guy refuses to sign the consent for the stents because he doesn't want his pubes shaved.

After trying to educate him, pleading with him, and contacting every goddamn lawyer the hospital has... The guy signed him self out AMA and went home. He would rather die than have his curlies shaved. We looked up his address and we weren't the closest hospital so if he died at home, medics would take him to a different hospital. Doubt he survived the day.

ChaplnGrillSgt Report

Final score:

130points

POST

Robert T 1 year ago

Reminds me of when a nurse asked me if I had shaved before an operation. "Yes, this morning" said I, rubbing my hand across my face. She meant downstairs. :-(

8points

#35

I’m a pharmacist. One evening shift I was working a relief shift (not my usual pharmacy). A man comes in looking distressed.

Man: I had sexual relations with a woman I do not intend to pursue a long term relationship with. (Yes. He said it just like that)

Me: okay. I’m assuming there was an accident or it was unprotected. How long ago did it happen?

Man: last night, at 7pm on the couch. (Woah TMI, I just need to know approximate time to know if plan B will work o.o)

Me: we have this medication called Plan B, and since the incident happened within 72 hours-

Man: oh yes, I got that for her already yesterday right after we finished. We want to know if there is anything we can do to know if she is pregnant now.

Me: unfortunately not. She’ll have to wait 3 weeks or so to see if she gets her period, and if she doesn’t then she can do a pregnancy test then. Theoretically you could do a blood test for faster results, but that would also not be until a couple of weeks, at least.

Man: we’re just really anxious because she really doesn’t want to be pregnant. Is there anything that she can take to prevent the pregnancy? Any multivitamin? Minerals? Food?

Me: she’s already taken it, which was the plan B. There are some other options but those are prescriptions. And no, there are no over-the-counter products she can take.

Man: What about me? Is there anything I can take now to prevent the pregnancy? Any multivitamins or minerals?

Me:……………………………..No sir. There isn’t anything you can take *now*

V_imaginary Report

Final score:

129points

POST

Robert T 1 year ago

What's he going to do? Take something, then shove it in again like a fire extiguisher?

11points

#36

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met Just yesterday a child patient needed a blood transfusion. The mother was apprehensive because they thought their kid could be vaccinated through the transfusion.

Chiperoni , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

128points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

The level of ignorance of some people never ceases to amaze me

74points

Primary-Contract-557 , MART PRODUCTION Report

#37

"How Did They Make This Far?": 40 Medical Professionals Remember The Most Notorious Darwin Award Candidates They've Ever Met My mom is an OBGYN, in the field for over 30 years. The stories I hear from her blow my mind. She had a patient, pregnant with her second child, who genuinely believed small pieces of her organs traveled through the umbilical cord and into babies. That’s how they get their organs.

Final score:

128points

POST

Boredest Disabled Panda 1 year ago

That's right up there with believing that babies breathe through the mother's belly button!

68points

MicturitionSyncope Report

#38

Not a medical professional, but I used to volunteer at a free medical clinic to take vitals and histories. A woman came in with pneumonia and wanted to know why her normal treatment of drinking half a bottle of Listerine and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day wasn't working. I asked why she thought smoking was good treatment for a lung infection and she said, "Indians used to purify the ground by burning all the weeds away before planting, so I'm smoking to purify my lungs."

I left that one to the doctor.

Final score:

126points

POST

1AlphaGeek1 1 year ago

Darwin Award Candidate

43points

#39

Not me, but sibling - I don't think he'd mind me sharing the story just on the off chance it prevents someone else from making this mistake. Lots of surgeons have a similar story, but thankfully this one doesn't end in someone's death.

Parents claim their child hasn't eaten anything before surgery, as they were carefully directed. Turns out they thought the surgical team was just being cruel to their child and when she said she was hungry that morning, they detoured on their way to the surgical center and got her a full Southern breakfast. She damn near died aspirating biscuits and gravy.

I've rarely seen my brother so angry (and disgusted - somehow biscuits and gravy looks even more nauseating the second time around) and he was just recounting what had happened. I have no doubt he tore a strip off the parents once their five-year-old was stabilized, and they probably still felt justified and angry at the surgeon for telling them what they could and could not feed their child right before anesthesia.

ETA The parents did in fact feel justified and hard-done-by, although afaik they didn't express anger at my brother (knowing him, they didn't get a word in edgewise). Definitely no acknowledgment or realization that they could easily have killed their own child or that they'd made a bad decision. I remember they were annoyed by her whining for food.

andante528 Report

Final score:

124points

POST

L.V 1 year ago

I had my appendix removed when I was 5... It was hard to not eat or drink for a couple days, but even then I knew that if the doctor said so, it was for a good reason.

51points

#40

I worked for an OBGYN who had a patient he prescribed vaginal suppositories for. When she complained of no improvement, she came back in for another exam. He found 7 FOIL WRAPPED suppositories in her vagina.

Great_Fortune5630 Report

Final score:

121points

POST

Carla Campbell 1 year ago

An acquaintance said tampons were extremely painful. She left the plastic on.

18points

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#41

Just got reminded of the time I got a highest priority call to someone who was actively choking.

Rush to scene. Going through the protocols en route - plans for if we needed to perform cpr.

Pull up. Rush in.

Dudes sat on the sofa, fully alert.

NOT CHOKING

"Ah you've managed to clear it, great" - me

"No I'm still choking" - them said with no hint of choking - also if your airway is occluded you can't speak..

Story is, he'd been to local carvery for lunch. Ate a big bit of beef that he felt was too big to swallow... but swallowed anyway.

After a short while he felt it was still not fully descended to his stomach, so he drove himself home and called 999.

I explained that it was a large bolus of food in his (for simpleton speak) food pipe, not his air pipe.

He needed to drink water to wash down and next time either cut into smaller pieces, or not swallow.

He had 2 young children and a 3rd on its way.

These people are allowed to vote, drive and reproduce. Fml

-usernamewitheld- Report

Final score:

53points

POST

Brenda 1 year ago

Good grief 🙄

9points

#42

Pharmacist here.

I had a woman bring in a literal sandwich bag [unseperated] which she kept all her meds in. She needed help seeing which meds she was low or out on and asking different questions on the medications. When she pointed to an apoquel stating it was her blood pressure medicine I immediately became concerned as to why pet medicine was in her bag [also why she Is mixing all her meds in a bag in the first place] only to find out that she had been throwing her pets med inside her bag of medicine. So lord knows what she's been giving her dog or taking herself. I immediately stressed how important it is to keep medicine in its original container to protect the medicine and herself and to know the directions of how to take it. I've seen her a few times since then and glad to see she has since taken my advice. But how any Pharmacist or doctor hasn't advised her on this before is beyond me.

DigbickDandit Report

Final score:

46points

POST

Jan Rosier 1 year ago

Russian roulette, medicine style...

16points

#43

My wife used to work at an Urgent Care in a under-educated community. I'd guess most of her patients would have you wondering how they made it to adulthood.

Some notable patients:

1. The guy who, after learning he had diabetes, vowed to make a life change and replace all his soda with Gatorade.
2. Women who don't know anything about vaginas or menstrual cycles.
3. The people who come in with a history of heart attacks and chest pain that feels like a heart attack but "I know my body and it's not a heart attack!" (It was always a heart attack)
4. Guys with gross d***s (hygene-related)
5. People who "did their own research".
6. The parents who didn't get their "normally-not-complainy" teenage daughter medical attention when she was screaming in pain. After finding out she had appendicitis, they took her home instead of taking her to the ER. Her appendix ruptured that night.

Bonus: My kid was in the hospital and sharing a room with another patient. This kid was morbidly obese and was elbow deep in a family-sized bag of potato chips. The doctor came in and really gave it to the mom. "Your kid has kidney failure and he's not supposed to be eating salty foods!" "Your kid has a major condition and you've missed the majority of his appointments!"

CaptainAwesome06 Report

Final score:

45points

POST

Betsy Ray 1 year ago

Child neglect. Poor kids.

29points

#44

Not me but my ex wife works as an endoscopy nurse.

People have to use laxatives because they have to be clean for the doctor to be able to see with the camera.
With the laxatives they have to drink a lot of fluid, 3, maybe 4 liters total iirc (about 3/4 gallon to a gallon).

Some people just don’t do it because it tastes bad.
Some people do laxate (lol autocorrect said lactate) but still eat. Some think the doctor just won’t notice.

Yeah Margaret, they won’t notice that your colon isn’t empty when they go in there with an HD camera!

They just don’t understand why they do it, even though everything is explained by the doctor, and they get brochures and a link to the website via email.

And believe me, I’ve seen the brochures and website, an average 8 year old could understand…

Also a funny story from her:

There was a teenage boy brought in with a dildo stuck in his butt. He didn’t need surgery but they did have to use some tools to get it out of his r****m.

After the procedure he apparently asked for the dildo back because it was his sister’s!

Answer was no, it was cleaned and they have a “trophy cabinet”.

_Bearded_Dad Report

Final score:

45points

POST

Mis Stake she/her 🇫🇮🇬🇧 1 year ago

Would love to see the trophy cabinet XD

25points

OriginalCharacterDNS Report

#45

Plenty, although the one that always sticks in my mind is a patient I met during my early years on a palliative care ward suffering from terminal cancer. She was only in her early thirties, and the only reason she had gotten so far gone was that she had relied on the healing power of crystals rather than... you know...chemotherapy.

Final score:

42points

POST

Seabeast 1 year ago

To be fair, the chemo doesn't always work either, and some types of cancer aren't detected until the patient is already at stage 4. But if you catch it early, you try the chemo.

7points

#46

My brother did a rotation in an ER before Med school. Paramedics brought in a man with a lacerated neck. He was drunk and fell into a fish tank. His drunk buddies called 9-1-1. When the paramedics arrived they realized his drunk friends had put a very tight tourniquet around his neck to stop the bleeding.

Edit: I texted my brother to remind him about it(it happened almost 20 years ago). Apparently it was worse than I remembered. The guy and his buddies were doing drunk WWE. He had a 2 inch glass shard stuck in his head, in addition to the neck laceration, dude came into the ER with no idea the glass was there. Four different firefighters had to hold him down as he screamed sexist remarks at the female doctor. He said when they removed the glass, blood shot about 10 ft in the air. My brother at that point silently “noped” the hell out of medicine. He went on to attend Berklee Music School and is living his best life as a musical producer and engineer, and is not arguing with rednecks about whether or not there is a glass shard in their head….

Smelli24u Report

Final score:

42points

POST

actaeon cross 1 year ago

Nowhere near this level, but I used to work overnight at an urgent care clinic. We had a guy come in from drinking with friends that had snapped his humerus clean in half from arm wrestling. You could see the gap very clearly in the x-ray

11points

#47

NAD but a patient and was roomsharing with another girl who needed surgery. Her instructions were not to eat. Every few hours she’d convince someone (family members) to bring her fast food. The doctor was frustrated and refused to do the surgery till she stopped eating. She needed a clear stomach. She could not get a grasp on this and said she had no choice but to eat cause she was hungry.

I was moved to another room on the third day but she still hadn’t had surgery by the time I had moved.

pancakesquest1 Report

Final score:

40points

POST

Justin Smith 1 year ago

Youd think they would stop allowing visitors when they keep bring food or discharge her for refusing to comply.

20points

#48

Physiotherapist.

For those that don't know, after a total knee replacement, you basically have a 6-week window after the surgery to regain the range of motion. If you don't regain the range in those first 6 weeks, it ain't coming back.

Had a patient who was a farmer, who was very enthusiastic about regaining the range because he needed to be mobile for his work. Saw him the first time about 5 days after sugery, showed him all the basic exercises, told him to not do any farm work for at least 6 weeks, and told him to come back to see me once a week for the first 6 weeks.

He disappeared and came back about 8 weeks later. His range was non-existant, maybe 30 degrees of range in total. He was visibly mad at me, as if it was my fault, actually was shouting and calling me incompetent. Our conversation went something like this:

"Have you been doing the exercises?"

*"No"*

"How often are you doing farm work?"

*"Every day"*

"Why haven't you come back since the first appointment 8 weeks ago?"

*"Too busy with farm work"*

"So to summarize here, you did absolutely nothing that I told you to, and this is somehow my fault?"

Never saw him again.

VeryAttractive Report

Final score:

39points

POST

Ace 1 year ago

Financial pressure to carry on working, one must assume. Very sad.

14points

#49

73 here, former clinical microbiologist, LONG ago.

Still, I found myself all over the clinical lab at times, not just infectious disease.

So, one day, this 20-something guy (wife and mom in tow) walks in with a paper request for semen analysis, pre-computer era.

Ok, not the most comfortable encounter, but I'm a professional and did this drill many times.

He had not been briefed by the doc and had no idea how establishing infertility in males was done.

Well, OK, a challenge, then.

I took him aside and... using standard medical terminology told him how a diagnosis is made and what he needed to do to provide a specimen.

He couldn't/wouldn't believe that I was asking him to masturbate into that container. Astonished!

Then he played dumb, as if the word was unfamiliar to him.

We looped through the medical terms and procedure again, and I eventually resorted to every word I knew to describe the "act".

It was like a George Carlin bit!

A half hour later, he emerged from the toilet with two inches of urine in the cup. God Almighty.

The report went back "patient provided improper specimen".

BrunoGerace Report

Final score:

38points

POST

Steve 1 year ago

Found the problem! Wife isn't getting pregnant because he's peeing into her

28points

#50

Physical Therapist - Had a patient with neck pain and spasms, also complained of anxiety and heart palpitations. Asked about caffeine intake and patient revealed drinking and average on 15-20 cups of coffee daily.

jdotbrone Report

Final score:

38points

POST

Mis Stake she/her 🇫🇮🇬🇧 1 year ago

Must be Finnish

9points

#51

I used to be a surgical technologist and have since moved up. One time, some guy thought it would be funny to pretend to have a seizure right as we administered anesthesia. He apparently looked up malignant hyperthermia, which is a severe action to anesthesia that could end in death. And as he was going under, we couldn't wake him so we had to bring the crash cart out and call a code blue in the OR to get this guy up. We did not do his elective surgery after that.

De4thMonkey Report

Final score:

37points

POST

Nay Wilson 1 year ago

Idiot!!

17points

#52

ED doc. I save a bunch of ridiculous chief complaints, but I had this one recently:

"Patient complains of sore gums after eating too many Zapp's spicy cajun potato chips. Pt currently with bag in hand, eating chips".

Believe it or not, people come to the ER all the time for stuff like this. People talk about how advanced humans are now, but I just think about these others who are holding our species back.

brentonbond Report

Final score:

37points

POST

Ge Po 1 year ago

Meanwhile, people with serious problems have to sit (or stand) and wait in line.

15points

#53

Just a former paramedic here, but hear me out. As I was pregnant, my ex asked me, how much does a newborn weigh?
Me: approximately 3,5 kg.
My ex: And how much weight have you already put on?
Me: About 13 kg (two weeks before delivery).
My ex: So you put on nearly 10 kg fat?
He has a graduate degree in mechanical engineering.

thepythonesse Report

Final score:

36points

POST

Nay Wilson 1 year ago

That’s why he’s an ex, right?

44points

#54

My sister told me a story of a woman with chronic blisters and lesions on her lips. They couldn’t figure out what it was for weeks. It would heal and come back. Heal and come back. Turns out she would jam out on like three bags of salt and vinegar chip a day for weeks at a time until the sores hurt too bad to continue then she’d go to the doctor.

The-disgracist Report

Final score:

35points

POST

Jennifer Smith 1 year ago

I read lips as legs and was very confused how chips caused her problems

13points

#55

Optometrist here.

Patient booked in for an emergency appointment, with a raging red eye. Clearly very painful...

Look under the microscope and the cornea is really not happy, wobbly reflexes, haziness, the works.

Me: "What happened?"

Patient: "It's my niece's wedding this Saturday, and I wanted to tint my eyelashes to match my hair and the colour scheme of the wedding [light blue], so I used the same dye for both to match the colour".

Me: "Does that hair dye contain ammonia, by any chance?"

Patient: "I think so. Do you think my eye will be better by Saturday? Will it match the colour scheme?"

Me: "Unless you can convice then to change the colour scheme to red, no".

the_topiary Report

Final score:

35points

POST

Spocks's Mom 1 year ago

I guess this person has never heard of tinted mascara.

16points

#56

When I was an intern posten in the Obstetric department, I saw a 42yr old pregnant woman who came for an antenatal check up. This was her 7th pregnancy and she had only one living child. So she had 5 pregnancies previously which failed (3 spontaneous abortions and 2 stillbirths). The 6th one was high risk too and she had to get cervical cerclage done (they stitch the cervix because it is too weak to actually hold a baby in till term). When the Obgyn asked her why she would put herself through pregnancy again instead of being content with her daughter, she replied 'my in-laws want us to have at least 2 children'.

Biggest pikachu face moment in my life.

centaursandsteths Report

Final score:

35points

POST

Seabeast 1 year ago

I bet the inlaws were disappointed that she'd "only" had a daughter and were pressuring her try for a son.

12points

#57

As a pharmacist: everyone who comes in to buy homeopathic c**p, especially for serious things.
Once a lady came in with a prescription from the dentist, for some heavy antibiotics and painkillers due to an infection that threatened to damage the jawbone. When I asked if she knew how to take them she went: “Oh I’m not gonna take those, they’ll go right into the garbage. But I gotta buy them so that my dentist is happy. I’ll rather stick with [insert name of homeopathic c**p here] instead of poisoning me with some devilish chemicals!”
Throughout the years I’ve learned to just shrug and accept those Darwin-award candidates instead of arguing with them. Just infuriates me when I see that they’ve got children or/and pets…

pharma91 Report

Final score:

35points

POST

Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago

I can do you one better, or rather worse: A woman WORKING AT THE PHARMACY tried to talk me into buying homeopathic c**p. From the pharmacy.

7points

SpatchcockMcGuffin Report

#58

Paramedic.
Elderly woman complains that her mouth is dry and she felt a bit dizzy climbing the stairs earlier. Go through the whole rigamarole of getting a medical history, vitals, more detail on symptoms. Ask her what she's had to drink today.

A cup of tea, ten hours ago.

Any water?
No.

Guess what fixed it within five minutes.

Final score:

34points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

"But doctor, I'm allergic to water... it always makes me want to pee"

7points

#59

This happened in med school on my OB/GYN rotation.

Patient: who’s the baby gonna look like?

Me: what do you mean?

Patient: well is it gonna look like the dude who got me pregnant or the guy who’s been nutting in me the last few months?

Me: *utterly speechless* the baby should look like the people who conceived it.

This person is now a parent.

Trisomy__21 Report

Final score:

33points

POST

LH25 1 year ago

This reminds of the stories I've read about the mom who wanted a nose job before getting pregnant so her baby would have the new nose, not her old one.

9points

BobBobBobBobBobDave Report

#60

My wife is an anaesthesiologist.

When training junior doctors, one of the things she has go reinforce over and over again is that you never leave drugs unattended in an unsecured area in a hospital, even for a moment, because some people see drugs and think "Hmm, fun" and take them even if they don't know what they are and they just raided a trolley or picked up a syringe off a bedside table.

And then, because the drugs used for anaesthetics in hospitals are quite serious, those people quite likely end up dead or vegetables.

And this has actually happened more than once in hospitals she has worked in.

Final score:

33points

POST

albernistuff 4sale 1 year ago

perhaps we should consider this as voluntary Darwin award entry, and let nature runs its course?

8points

#61

My wife was in a meeting with a doctor who had a patient argue that she DOES eat vegetables because she always has ketchup on her cheeseburgers.

docdidactic Report

Final score:

33points

POST

T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago

But tomatoes are fruit.

29points

#62

Young woman called an ambulance for stomach ache...

"Can I stay home?"

No lady, you will have baby in few hours.

"Baby?"

Yes, you are pregnant and will give a birth within next few hours.

"I am pregnant ?"

Yes, from where do you think that belly is coming ?

"I drank more beers lately, I thought it came from that."

We take her to the well known hospital in my country (songs about it and so), when we arrived she asked: "Whooooooah, this is that famous hospital?"

Probably most wtf moment I ever experienced.

SolidFin Report

Final score:

31points

POST

Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago

My niece was rushed to hospital years ago. Kept gaining weight, doing diet supplements etc, still ovulating every month so no periods missed. Preeclampsia and related problems. Step dad found her unresponsive, Zoe(great niece) graduated several years ago, so it turned out well.

13points

Personality_Optimal Report

#63

Pharmacist. Don't even know where I would begin for some of the ridiculous situations I have had. Up there however has to be whenever I had a lady swallow a full box of suppositories and came in to complain that the issue has not cleared up and the medication tasted bad and was hard to swallow.

Do sometimes wonder how people put one foot in front of the other ......

Final score:

30points

POST

Phil Boswell 1 year ago

"These suppository pills are rubbish, I might as well be shoving them up my a**e!"

38points

#64

I work at a hospital and I legit had someone who believed that the only way to improve their eyesight was to close their left eye and squint with their right. When asked about glasses she said ' I'm not into that fashion trend'

RaceGloomy Report

Final score:

30points

POST

wowbagger 1 year ago

Yes, I definitely wear these Coke bottle glasses fOr FaShiOn

11points

#65

Vet Med here, we get a lot of patients who need to go on medications for a wide array of persistent problems, and these medications keep them under control.

So we often get ones with thyroid, diabetes, heart issues, etc. and start them on medications. The patient starts to do great, comes in for another recheck, and is awful. We ask the owner if they are still giving the med....nope they stopped it cause they were all better...

We fully educate the owner, go over medications, and give notes on what to do, and they still do this.

Rhodri_Suojelija Report

Final score:

29points

POST

Jennifer Clark 1 year ago

We will occasionally have a student whose parent stops giving him his daily medications because he's doing better , so he doesn't need it anymore. Like, he needs this daily, a few weeks of meds won't magically cure a child's Adhd, autism, mental health issues ect.

7points

#66

I work in orthopedic rehab. Had a patient with a common fracture of the wrist the doctor sent over since she was inexplicably getting stiffer and stiffer.

I spent 17 sessions with her, 40ish minutes each 1-1 time. Instead of just bending her wrist she would contort her entire body. She had a career, married, raised kids, and seemingly functional adult. I tried everything to have her actively use her muscles to move her wrist. In front of a mirror, videos of myself doing the exercise, her doing it, and trying to spot the difference of moving your shoulder vs your wrist. The last time I saw her I even strapped her arm to a chair and she didn’t understand she was just trying to move her wrist.

I will never understand it.

dumptrucklegend Report

Final score:

29points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

Probably because it hurt her wrist doing it.

11points

#67

When i was in the hospital as a patient there was this one guy in ER who really REALLY wanted to step outside to smoke. The nurses pretty much belted him on the table and yelled at him that he had complete kidney failure and they need to treat him immediately or he will die in the next 20 minutes. To their dismay he didn't listen and tried to vehemently free himself and go outside and smoke. He was in his 30s, it is a mystery to me how this guy survived that long.

Bierculles Report

Final score:

28points

POST

Persephone 1 year ago

If he was that progressed with kidney failure, his blood was literally poisoning his brain, which would make anyone act crazy. I took care of dialysis patients, and they would always be normal until right before they were due for dialysis; then they became a completely different and combative/irrational person.

13points

#68

Go see patient in labor. Explain through the whole risks/benefits and process of a labor epidural. Finish up procedure and have just secured the epidural catheter to the skin. Husband asks ‘how is she supposed to pee through that small a catheter?’

Pasngas42 Report

Final score:

28points

POST

Spocks's Mom 1 year ago

Here, Honey. Please hold still while I urinate inside of your spine.

3points

#69

The patient sees me in clinic on Monday, everything is fine.
Tuesday morning, she's on the hospital census with a pending consult for me. When I see her, she says she's fine and doesn't know why she was admitted.

She walked out the clinic, called an ambulance from across the street and was taken to a different hospital. Reported her problems were uncontrolled and nobody was taking her seriously. They transferred her overnight because I don't work at that other hospital.

She gets discharged Wednesday morning. Friday morning she is again on the census with a pending consult. Again says she's fine, not sure why she's there.

This time she has a friend who picked her up from the hospital drive her to a small outlying hospital without the services she needed. Walked into the ER, said she was in distress, nobody was taking her seriously. Admitted, transferred overnight.

Discharged Friday afternoon. Sure as s**t she was back in Saturday morning.

I ask her "Why do you think you keep getting admitted into the hospital?". She has no clue. Completely baffled. I tell her it's because she keeps going to hospitals and telling them she needs help. No lights come on. I ask her "Why do you keep going to other hospitals?" And she tells me "I didn't know what else to do. My apartment is a complete mess. My caretaker (she is not a ward of the state but gets most of the services like coaches, guardians, drivers, etc) won't clean my apartment because I'm supposed to learn how to do it and I just don't want to do it.". I follow up with "But why do you keep telling them that I'm not taking you seriously?".

This is burnt in my brain "If I don't they just send me home in a cab."

Semi-Pro_Biotic Report

Final score:

28points

POST

CaptainDinosaur 1 year ago

I used to do home health care for people exactly like this. The dread of changing their routine can be debilitating for people with certain mental illnesses.

16points

#70

Not my story, but my dad’s.

So when he was in med school he was doing a rotation and talked to a teenager who had went to the restroom and ended up popping a baby out. When my dad asked about her period her explanation about why she hadn’t had them is that she talked to her cousin and she hadn’t had hers in seven months. She was also one of EIGHT children so you think her mom should have been able to deduce what was happening. Overall not a very bright sounding family.

crazyrockguy12 Report

Final score:

28points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

And there are some USA lawmakers who actively wish to stop sex education in schools

26points

#71

My aunt. She was diagnosed with cancer. Instead of getting treatment, she went hardcore vegan and prayed, refused to use any med. Doctor said she could have made it for few more years. She died after 6 months.

CinnamonThing Report

Final score:

27points

POST

Nay Wilson 1 year ago

I’m sorry for your loss 🙁

5points

#72

I'm not a medic but an environmental health officer that investigates infectious disease (sources, causes, exposure).

I had a case in a 2 month old of campylobacter (food/waterborne poisoning), the mother called me and asked "how could she get it when it comes from chicken and she's vegan"...

When I say vegan, the mother meant they were treating the baby as vegan. No breastfeeding or milk substitute.

Proper boiled my p**s that one.

Edit: by milk substitute I meant breast milk substitute as in formula to make that clear

thenorthmerchant Report

Final score:

27points

POST

Ellie Vanille 1 year ago (edited)

They sort of forgot the whole point of being vegan. Animals not eating OTHER species. Do they think a cow does not feed her milk to her calf?

4points

#73

EMS Here. Had a diabetic in his 30-40s who refused to take insulin since 2012, it was 2020 at the time. When I took his blood sugar is only read as “HI” meaning it was over 700 for glucometer to not read it. Upon seeing this, he asked me if that was high and then went “Is this cause of all the ‘ice ceam’ I ate”. Played Facebook messenger video with his girlfriend the entire time. Met him later on the parking lot after he got discharged, and it took this man less than fifty paces from the ER door to rip off his bandage covering his IV and play with the IV wound until it started bleeding all over the place again. Knocked on our ambulance door and asked for a bandaid to fix it. We had to walk him back into the ER and bandaged his entire arm with gauze so that, hopefully, by the time he got it off it would’ve clotted enough for him to not end up exsanguinating himself.

TaTenk Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Lene 1 year ago

Some diabetic people should be shown pictures of how diabetic people looked before insulin injections was a thing. Those pictures are heartbreaking. Perhaps at least some of those diabetics would realize then how important insulin is when you have this specific illness. At least I'd hope so. (I know, I have too high hopes for humankind).

0points

#74

Once had a guy come in to the emergency room because he snorted a random white powder found in a plastic bag left on a random bench in the middle of a sketchy park and started feeling s*icidal.

Gupoochamois69 Report

Final score:

25points

POST

Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago

Like those guys who found some unlabelled white powder and decided to snort it AND inject it into themselves and then they all f*****g died because it was rat poison.

17points

#75

Lady took her friends blood pressure medication because she thought without measuring that her blood pressure was high (had a severe reaction - home with epi pen type reaction...)..... Then when home to took the bloody medication again...... Further anaphylaxis!!

Numerous_Art5080 Report

Final score:

25points

POST

Daffydillz~ 1 year ago

This sounds like a person with a deathwish or a mental illness. I hope that they got the help they need.

3points

#76

Respiratory therapist here.

I was working in the ER one night and we have a prison not far from the hospital I was working at. We had a prisoner come in one night and the doctor asked me to get an EKG on him. I went into the room, did the EKG, and gave the results to the doctor. I asked the doctor why he was here as the prisoner was acting okay and didn't appear to be in any sort of distress. The doctor told me he was here because he shoved a flex pen up his d**k. The doctor asked me if I wanted to watch the pen being removed...I proceeded to return to my office.

The next night I worked, we had a different prisoner come in for the exact same thing.

ShenmueTacos Report

Final score:

25points

POST

Shark Lady 1 year ago

Gets them out of prison for a while.

11points

#77

Literally yesterday. Consumed 8 cans of red bull in a 2 hour time frame. Presented with palpitations and severe chest pain.

hahawhybother Report

Final score:

24points

POST

KOTLC_Fan 🇺🇦 1 year ago

It’s obviously the vaccines (/s)

7points

#78

I overheard a conversation between a nurse and a doctor and a patient in the ER.
They were trying to figure out if he was very stupid or has a head injury. It was both hilarious and sad.

He kept telling them that he was there for a hurt leg. He couldn’t explain why his leg was hurt, how it was hurt, how he got there. Nearly anything.
I heard them taking in a hallway to each other. The nurse was convinced he hit his head. The Doctor said “no he is just an idiot”

Turns out the Dr was right. They go ahold of the guys wife. She basically told them in the hallway he is always this dumb and if she leaves him he would get lost in his own house and starve.

Edit - it sounded like his leg was visibly injured or swollen. But when asked what happed or how does it feel he gave nonsensical idiot answers. Not like slurring but in a regular idiot voice.
“ if feels hurt” “ I was talking to Jimmy and we were doing our usual work and my leg hurt”. Doc “Did something happen? What is the work”. Him” something always happens, you know how it goes”. “ I just want my leg fixed”

MeatJumps Report

Final score:

23points

POST

Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 1 year ago

And these people breed and vote :(

14points

Sea_Vermicelli7517 Report

#79

A woman called 911 because a cougar attacked her cat. She thought we could help the (*very* clearly dead) cat.

A man called 911 because a cow bit him. He didn’t want EMS or an assessment or anything.

A man called 911 for an itchy b******e. Took him to the ED because we have to. The doctor asked the patient if he had put the cream on his b******e that he gave him last time. Patient said no. Next time patient called us for his itchy b******e I offered to put the cream on his b******e for him, he declined. Took him back to the ED.

Final score:

23points

POST

Kyle D 1 year ago

I must have a cleaner mind than I thought. I first read that as "Backside" .

0points

#80

Nurse here. Had a patient with a tibial plateau fracture, that demanded to see the doctor because she wanted to quit her antithrombotic medication (bad idea). According to her it gave her a dry mouth. I explained to her that it was no known side effect of that drug. This lady had type 2 diabetes and administered her own insulin. Dry mouth is a side effect of high blood sugar. Tested her blood sugar, it was too high... Turns out she was using the same needle twice.
Edit: these particular needles are single use, so she only got half the dose.

Badira Report

Final score:

22points

POST

PandaGoPanda 1 year ago

In the US and trying to save money by cutting down on the insulin?

8points

#81

Everyday.

Once had a 36yo girl for CT. Broke her leg sitting on the toilet. After talking to her, found out she had cancer she was trying to treat with herbs. Well, cancer spread to her femur and she snapped it. Pretty sad.

BalladOfWormz Report

Final score:

22points

POST

Betsy Ray 1 year ago

36 year old female or woman.

17points

#82

The patient who wiped their a*s with bleach wipes because “they were in the bathroom”

Dry_Topic1882 Report

Final score:

22points

POST

Spocks's Mom 1 year ago

I bet they have a sparkly puckered starfish.

9points

#83

Uninteresting, common version: uncontrolled diabetic screaming at the top of their lungs demanding 3 Ensure chocolate smoothies and 2 sandwiches and 5 orange juices for an after dinner snack while having the accucheck flag his blood glucose levels as "CRITICAL >500" while also freshly amputated. Oh and he'll follow you around the nurse station all day.

beltalowda_oye Report

Final score:

19points

POST

and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago

Wtf did I just read.

2points

#84

Had a patient when I was a pharmacy resident get repeatedly admitted to the hospital due to CHF complications (shortness of breath, fluid overload, etc.). She had been advised to follow a low sodium diet but no one had asked her what she had actually been eating. I asked what she usually ate for lunch and she said instant ramen noodles every day, but she only added the seasoning packet and a little salt.

GetKobeonTNT Report

Final score:

19points

POST

Virginie Michaud 1 year ago

I read that in South Korae, the health authority recommends eating no more than 1 instant ramen per month because of how much sodium they have... There should be warnings on foods with such high sodium contents likw that.

0points

#85

I worked EMS for years. It never ceased to amaze me the things people will do to themselves or others for fun. Confronted with these types my first question was always,"At what point did this seem like a good idea?" The weirdest one I can remember was a guy that put his penis through a large metal nut. Once he got erect he couldn't get it off.

zubaz69 Report

Final score:

18points

POST

madbakes 1 year ago

He was trying to improvise for a c**k ring?

1point

#86

Not a medical professional, but a grandson of a patient. My grandma went to opthalmologist to get her new glasses. Her doctor wanted to get her to do surgery for cataracts, but my grandma was very rude and stubborn in her denial to do that operation. Her main reason? She wouldn't be able to bend down for some time. That's right, my grandma would have rather chosen to go blind than to inconvenience herself in a slight way. Luckily, we managed to convince her to do that operation, my parents, brother and I. She awaits her appointments

Ogurasyn Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Shark Lady 1 year ago

I've overheard all sorts of reasons to not have treatment, I've been in hospital a lot! One lady in the bed next to me didn't want to have the cancerous tumour in her bowel removed because there was a small chance that she might have to have a bag. The surgeon was pretty sure she wouldn't need one but had to warn her, she told the surgeon she would "rather take her chances with cancer than sh*t in a bag".

10points

#87

Someone asked me how you catch a stroke. This is as the partner of said person was on the floor unable to stand due to left sided weakness/no power. They both thought he could sleep it off over night and be fine in the morning, 12hours later they decided they'd phone the doctors to ask if there was anything the dr could give the person on the floor who was also now incontinent. They didn't even get worried during the previous day when his face drooped on the left side and he was slurring his speech.

I said he has had a stroke,

"Oh how do you catch one of those?"

justanotherjtad Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Betsy Ray 1 year ago

So sad. If you get to the ER right away they can usually treat the stroke. The patient may recover fully.

13points

Difficult_Land_3045 Report

#88

Plenty. A patient came to me with a swelling in the inguinal region, which was likely inguinal hernia. Just when I was about to examine him, I observed that his ears were pierced and he was wearing a thread through those piercing... I was surprised. Usually, I see ear rings or some other metal. So I asked him why he was wearing a tiny rope?

He said it was to treat the swelling(hernia)! To admit that I didn't laugh hysterically would be an absolute lie...

Final score:

18points

POST

RMA 1 year ago

Had a French au pair nag us to get our toddler daughter’s ears pierced. Why? To avoid a lifetime of ear infections by ensuring good drainage. Sheesh.

1point

#89

That's most patients. Honestly, they usually get that far through some combination of luck (bordering on divine intervention for some), endless enabling from family members and access to emergency care and social services enabling then to continue.

I had one in particular who was an blind alcoholic with tourettes. He would drink until he collapsed in the road daily and was brought to the ER, daily. He survived being run over by a bus and being buried in a snowbank with a body temp in the low 80s all to leave AMA to drink and collapse in the street all over again. Daily. After about a decade of that c**p a leg infection he refused to treat got him.

Barmacist Report

Final score:

17points

POST

Debbie 1 year ago

This is just sad...

3points