On September 4, 2013, during an emergency room visit for 10/10 pain levels from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome with suicidal ideation, I was sent for an assessment with then-Chief of Psychiatry Dr. David Cochrane, at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. He decided that I was good to go home.
When I asked if he normally sent suicidal veterans home, his response?
“You see, Psychiatry is a lot like oncology…. you win some, you lose some!”
When he was later confronted by the social worker of the hospital, my base social worker and myself about the matter, he literally exploded. Three years later, nurses approached me and asked, “We are STILL talking about that – we have NEVER seen him do that before! What on earth did you say to him?”
All I asked was, “Do you normally send suicidal veterans home?”
The answer is yes. They do it all the time.
The last time I tried to get help at the hospital for pain management issues in November 2023, they claimed I was a drug addict (I was not, I only smoked medical marijuana, as prescribed). I then had to — as a childhood sexual abuse survivor — go to the local drug addiction center DAILY to get suboxone, a medication also used for pain management.
Funnily enough, I didn’t see any other pain patients or cancer patients there. I did however, have to piss in front of a video camera in order to obtain my pain medication. For a veteran, someone with legit complex regional pain issues, these people thought it was appropriate to treat me in this manner. I have never abused drugs or medications in any manner.
This happened in December 2023 until June 2024 when I finally had enough of that bullshit. You used my pain condition as a reason to make me an inpatient, so you can get your funding for your drug addiction centre, which you just got additional funding this month for. Shame on you for doing this to not only a veteran? But to a childhood sexual abuse survivor.
I absolutely have no qualms using the Doctors name in this entry. He had two letters from myself as well as my counsellor. I was advised by his big bosses in Sudbury that this doctor would NEVER again be involved in my care…. But guess who was given this same Doctor last November, 2024? You guessed it. They gave him to me. I refused and they got another doctor who then gave a 2-minute assessment and a diagnosis that was not appropriate. The North Bay Regional Health Centre was told to NOT allow him to be near me and – yet – you very nearly did. There should be measures in place for this and I should have lodged ANOTHER complaint then but I have been struggling to stay alive physically and mentally since then. You are not worth me going after anymore.