Woman offended by 'Don't get drunk' advice

A woman's formal complaint – filed with the city of Denver – alleges she was hurt and humiliated by instructions from an emergency room doctor that she should not get drunk and hurt herself.

The complaint stemmed from an incident that developed when a 34-year-old mother of two, Karin Howe of Littleton, was riding in a rickshaw in Denver's trendy Lower Downtown district, and stood up and fell back onto a sidewalk, where she hit her head and was knocked out, according to a report by CBS Channel 4 television.

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She had been partying with friends, and appeared to have been drinking just before the accident. Documents obtained by the television station showed her blood alcohol level measured 0.216 percent after the accident, and that Howe was uncooperative with emergency response personnel and was tied down.

Howe, according to hospital records obtained by the station, was "acutely intoxicated," but then also suffered from the comments from Dr. Yadavinder Sooch, who instructed that she should no longer "get drunk and fall, causing harm to your head or body."

The woman's complaint said such comments constituted "substandard treatment," and were "outrageous discharge instructions," according to the report from CBS 4 News investigator Brian Maas.

A spokeswoman for Denver Health Medical Center told Maas that a threatened lawsuit over the situation had been resolved but no details were available.

However, the television report said the woman had to wait five hours to be treated in the emergency room, and then the doctor did not order X-rays, an MRI or other types of tests to determine a head injury.

She reported that Sooch treated a cut on her head and then prescribed Tylenol, adding these instructions: "Do not abuse alcohol. Do not get drunk and fall causing harm to your head or body. Apologize to your family, friends and [emergency department] faculty for your extremely inappropriate behavior and rudeness while intoxicated. Be a great mother to your kids."

The television station's report said Howe later was treated for a hairline skull fracture and closed head injury, and another doctor who was asked by Howe's lawyer to evaluate her case concluded the comments were "intentionally cruel and hurtful."