Scenario 1 In-Flight Emergency Disclosure-Patient
1 week ago: You have been a patient of Doctor X for the past 5 years. You have a PMHx of HTN. You have not been to clinic for the past 1.5 years due to being busy and forgetting to return the clinic phone calls asking you to schedule your annual appointment. Your blood pressure has been high for months leading up to this hospitalization after you gained a bunch of weight during the COVID19 pandemic and you’ve been delaying going to the doctor to get it taken care of. You were hospitalized at a community hospital last week for something called “Hypertensive Emergency” where your blood pressure was really high after you also ran out of your blood pressure medications last week. After your hospitalization they scheduled a follow up appointment with your PCP for you to get checked out. You bring your discharge paperwork to show your doctor the new medications they gave you from the hospitalization. Doctor X looks at your medication list and your log of you blood pressures at home (which are still running too high) and says you need to take another blood pressure pill called Carvedilol. The day after your visit you pick up your new prescription because you have a flight the next day to visit your grandkids. You start taking your new medicine Carvedilol the morning of your flight in addition to the medications metoprolol and lisinopril that they gave you from the hospital. During the flight your blood pressure and heart rate get really low, you feel awful, and they have to land the plan emergently to take you to a hospital. At this hospital they tell you that likely you were taking too many “beta blocker” pills. You are confused because this is what your doctor has just prescribed you.
Today: You are back 1 week later in your PCP’s office for follow up from this second hospitalization. You want to know exactly what happened with your medication and why you got so sick after taking the pills your doctor prescribed.