Yvonne,

I can't answer your drug questions, but I can answer the concern about
being separated from your husband for "the privacy of the patient."  It
sounded as though you were seen in the ER.  This is standard.  The doc
doesn't know you and your husband.  She needs to get you alone to ensure
that your back injury is not due to domestic violence. I have actually said
to an ER doc, "OK, now that we are alone, I can tell you that he does not
beat me.  Can he come back in here now and hold my hand?"  I would hope
that most docs would consent, but I know that is not always the case.  In
our first year med school humanities course we are given a case from right
here in our own med center about an elderly woman with hypertension who is
separated from her husband by a busy resident.  Of course the separation
only raises her BP further-- oh well, at least now someone is trying to
teach us to think of the patient's needs for family support.

Kathleen Bellis
Class of 2002
Penn State College of Medicine