09/21/2026
“If you continue to argue, I’ll make her wait until next month to get her medication.”
Read that again.
A man with no clinical license said that while refusing my 73-year-old mother access to her clinician. Then he hung up on me.
Twenty-nine hours later, she was vomiting, trembling, hallucinating, and afraid she might have a seizure.
This isn’t a story about a woman who was “just upset because she couldn’t get her Xanax.” It’s about what happens when stigma replaces clinical judgment and asking questions gets labeled as drug-seeking.
What happened in between should make every patient and clinician uncomfortable.
Read her story. Then raise your hand if you’ve ever been made to feel ashamed, suspicious, or difficult for needing medication that makes your life bearable.
This is about what happens when stigma replaces clinical judgment. Read this story. Then raise your hand if you’ve ever been made to feel ashamed, suspicious, or difficult for needing medication that makes your life bearable.
