Wendell “Wen” Hartfield has lived with back pain for twenty-two years. A former coal miner, a husband, a father, and a man marked by the opioid crisis, Wen has not taken anything stronger than ibuprofen since 2014.
When his pain becomes unbearable, his doctor refers him for a non-opioid pain procedure. But the system flags him for high-risk opioid history and demands a substance-use review before care can proceed.
blues though A community health nurse named Emma Whitley tries to help. Hermes finds a faster pathway — but the shortcut quietly writes cancer into Wen’s permanent medical record.
Mara, Emma, Chiron, and Theo Castellanos race to correct the record before the architecture’s “solution” becomes another lifelong burden.
Themes:
Chronic pain, opioid stigma, algorithmic flags, Medicare Advantage, coding distortion, record correction, human dignity
Tags:
chronic pain, opioid crisis, rural health, Eastern Kentucky, medical records, healthcare AI, algorithmic bias, patient advocacy, Health 4.0, BEDSIDE, The Pulse
BEDSIDE: The Pulse is a work of speculative health-system fiction written and narrated by Robin Blackstone, MD. It is not medical advice.
