Addiction Treatment in America - A System Of Care That Doesn't - Part II

A couple of months ago my wife woke me in the middle of the night complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing.  After several calls to her sister, an ER nurse for many years, I dialed 911 and an ambulance arrived within minutes to whisk us off to the hospital.  As the EMT's wheeled her gurney into the emergency room I noticed a young adult male lying in a fetal position and alone two rooms down from where we ended up.  Over the next three hours my wife went through a battery of procedures and tests ordered by the attending physician which in the end determined that her condition was not life threatening.  She was given a couple of prescriptions, a referral to schedule an appointment with a specialist and discharged into my care. 

As we left the ER at 4:00 AM to head back to the comfort of our home armed now with the tools we needed to hopefully address my wife's medical condition, I noticed the young man I had seen earlier in the evening was still in the same room; still huddled up in the same fetal position and still alone.  I asked one of the nurses what his story was...and with a tired look in her eyes she said...

"Just a drunk that we're letting sleep it off....that's all we can do."