The fact that poor and/or mentally ill white people are treated poorly does not mean that poor and/or mentally ill people of color are not generally treated worse. The fact that class and disability were clear factors here — as extensively discussed — does not mean race was not also a factor, and a very large one at that. I am very upset by your comment, because it serves to actively draw attention to your own experiences as a white woman while actively drawing away attention from and DENYING the experiences of women of color. That is not okay.

My doctors do not treat accute headaches in the office and send me to the ER. One local ER will not give me pain shots. The other limits how often I can come. I am not seeking drugs. I have a pain contract with my pain management doctor and have turned down prescriptions. I get nerve blocks which involve numerous injections in my face, head, neck, and back to help with pain. I used to have daily headaches. I hate needles but it is a way of survival. I average two to three headaches a week. I have plenty of meds if I want to “feel good.” When a headache is severe and not managed by my home meds the only way to break the cycle is an ER visit. They can not refuse to treat me but can refuse to effectively treat me. Had I ever got confrontational, they most likely would at the least call security or possibly have me arrested.

I lived in a shelter for abuse victims for three months after leaving my husband. If I needed treatment I had insurance so I received it. However, many of the other woman who had no insurance went to the ER and were misdiagnosed or brushed off. I do not share about my mood disorder because I am automatically labled even though it is controlled with meds. Being on disability and Medicaid, has made a major difference. I am treated with far less dignity and respect. In some instances race may be a factor, but overall being homeless, poor, on government assistance, or having a mental illness does affect the treatment people receive. I went from being a respected middle class house wife to being a crazy single woman on government assistance and my world is nothing like it used to be. The only thing I gained was getting out of a very abusive marriage, which means now I am victimized by others.

http://www.arupconsult.com/Topics/VenousThromboembolism.html#tabs=1

What I don’t understand is why they didn’t send her to the acute psychiatric floor, being “unstable” and all. Jail would not help someone with a mental health problem.

As a lab worker, I will echo the commenters who say a D-dimer should have been done. This a blood test that shows if there are clots breaking down in the body, such as would happen in a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). DVT is not uncommon after a sprain or break in the leg, especially in women. Injury combined with inactivity cause blood to pool and clot in a vein in the leg. Sometimes as this clot breaks down, pieces break off. These pieces can travel to the heart, eye, brain, or lung (as in Ms. Brown’s case – this is called a Pulmonary Embolism), causing organ damage and/or death.