Let’s see, you just suffered blindness in 1/2 your visual field and the CT of your head shows something ominous needing more work up. You however don’t want to be admitted because you won’t be able to smoke your 2 packs a day in the hospital and don’t like nicotine patches.
Addiction has made you a complete and utter idiot.
25
Jul
Evolution in action-altho in this case probably too late to make a breeding difference, dammit. Unbelievable is it not ?~!
No, no, you can’t take that away from me.
Darwin for the win?
Seconding the Darwin nomination if (s)he doesn’t have a family. Also, another albeit atypical case of “smoking kills”.
Nicotine is a drug and people are addicted. Yes, you will be stressed out but risking your life for a smoke is not a logical choice anyone should make. Some hospitals recommending ecigs for patients that act as a safe alternative to smoking. That may be something to look into. http://www.MDecigs.com is a good one.
You “Darwinists” would probably not be so happy to see “dumb” diabetics and cancer patients also fail to adapt and die. Like diabetes and cancer, addiction is an illness, not a sign of stupidity. Treatment is warranted by addiction medicine specialists, not wisecracks by frustrated docs or random commenters.
Maybe you should google the Darwin Award – I’m by no means a convinced Darwinist.
I’m not assuming that chronical illnesses and even addictions have anything to do with stupidity, there are plenty of intelligent , functioning and brilliant people with one or several of these, same with loving housewifes and retired teachers. I’m not advocating that people with chronical illnesses or addictions should die and be removed from our gene pool, as you seem to think. Everyone can be caught by a chronical illness, no matter what intelligence, education or status!
However, the patient as described above is a definite case of lack of judgement (for whatever reasons), similar to the stroke patients with halfsided paresis who wait to go to the ER until the Superbowl has finished etc. It is a stupid behavior and/or a stupid and wrong decision that potentially leads to deathly consequences – and that would mean that it fits the concept of the “Darwin Award”.
But yes, there are many healthy people who are just as much idiots as the one described in this case. To qualify for the award, you don’t have to be ill, you know. But thanks for your judgement.
But I must add that I’m a bit surprised, now that I think about it. The patients in the hospital I frequent have no problem taking their iv pole and going outside for a smoke. I’m sure you could still make one pack a day while admitted (two might be stretching it).
Thats okay, at 23, my brother-in-law had a doctor at his University Health Care clinic tell him for a year that he was suffering from sinusitis.
It wasn’t until he started to lose vision in one of his eyes that someone took a closer look. By then the tumor in his sinus cavity was so big they could see it just looking up his nose.
Luckily, thanks to modern medical care, they were able to treat it. 8 years clean, getting ready to have his second child in the spring.
Don, he was so lucky. I met an older patient with a similar illness and time frame of misdiagnosis, who was also told that he simply had sinusitis and a bad case of stinky nose (by two separate nose/throat “specialists” who never thought to look close enough). By the time he was diagnosed (at the third doc), it was inoperable and I suspect he died later that year. A very sad story. Some people get bad doctors, and some doctors get bad patients. Tragic ensues.
Nice job assuming correlation equals causation as well as demonizing addicts. Didn’t they make you take even basic statistics in medical school?