Tulsa shooter was distraught over back pain. Killed his ortho surgeons

[Demovictory9]

Bought gun day of and 3 days before shooting

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tulsa-mass-shooter-identified-as-michelet-louis-who-left-note-explaining-motive-niece-says



Last month, Michael Louis had an operation on his back. But the pain had become too much to bear, he claimed. And when an enraged Louis couldn’t find relief, he blamed the man trying to help—his doctor.

Police said Louis fatally shot two orthopedists, a medical receptionist, a bystander, and then himself at a medical office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday afternoon, using a semi-automatic rifle he bought just three hours earlier from a local gun store.

[IggleDuer]

1. The pain was so severe ...

… that he was able to go to a gun store.

[Lars39]

5. And then to the hospital clinic.

Yeah, I’m not buying that either.

[GoodRaisin]

7. Being in pain doesn't prevent you from going to a store.

[BlueSpot]

14. May you never experience sciatica n/t

[GoodRaisin]

15. I do experience sciatica.

From severe lumbar stenosis. I also experience chronic nerve pain in all my limbs. I still go to the store.

Many people recovering from back surgery could be in pain and still be able to go to a store.

[inthewind21]

25. I too had severe stenosis

There was constant pain at different levels. And when it flared up, If I could stand up was a miracle let alone get in the car and go gun shopping. Driving myself OR as a passenger. I lived with that for 5 years then finally had surgery. Cysts removed from spine, stenosis fixed and 2 blown out discs repaired. To expect that you are going to be right as rain 6 days later is fantasy. What pain meds were or were not prescribed is just another excuse. Maybe he was mentally ill as well. Any excuse or place to park the blame will do.

[GoodRaisin]

32. He has no excuse for shooting people.

All I’m saying is that it is easy for me to believe the account of what happened. There are going to be circumstances in which people in pain can get in a car and drive to a store whether it be a gun store or a grocery store. I know because I have to do it. As someone who experiences pain you know that there are various kinds of pain so in some cases you can drive to a store and in some cases you can’t. It depends on the severity (1-10) and the type (acute or chronic), and other circumstances that can greatly vary.

I’ve already had one spine decompression surgery that left me with ~ average 7 level chronic neuropathic pain I live with daily. I have also been told I need to have multi-level laminectomy with fusion (guessing probably the one you had when they removed cysts from your spine), which I’m holding out on and causing my sciatica flare ups and standing/walking problems. But I can still sit in relative comfort and don’t want to risk that too. It sounds like the surgery worked out for you. I may yet have to get it done.

[canetoad]

41. You're kidding, right?

I have spondylolisthesis which means almost constant, severe sciatica. Never shot anyone.

[JI7]

2. Stupid fucking asshole

[questionseverything]

3. So was he calling asking for pain meds?

I know the feds have made it really difficult for a doctor to prescribe pain meds

I am not excusing what this guy did but 7 days after
Major surgery still being on pain meds doesn’t seem unreasonable to me

[shrike3]

4. After knee surgery, I could not get the surgeon to prescribe additional pain meds

A friend ended up giving me his anti-inflammatory pills. They worked okay, but I switched to extra strength Aleve as soon as I could so he wouldn't go without.

[questionseverything]

9. Years ago my spouse got his acl replaced

They sent him home with a morphine pump… go figure

[shrike3]

19. Dang. Things sure have changed.

[questionseverything]

29. He was camped out on couch doing his passive motion exercises

When he started feeling “itchy”

His older brother said, “ that means you are getting addicted “

We had no idea if he was right but it scared us

They had the needle out in a flash and called the doctor to get pills

He weaned off them quicker than the doc required

Btw he regained 98% strength, doc said he had only seen one better result and that was a 16 year old football player

[shrike3]

37. Yeah, you really have to do the PT.

I had my knee done, and heard tell of those whose knees locked up because they didn't move. Glad your husband had such a good result.

I was given morphine after one surgery, and when I started itching I was told it was an allergic response. Glad you had a doctor who reacted quickly.

[Igel]

6. Hey, he could have become addicted to opioids.

Then the situation would have *really* been bad.

My MIL had surgery and had the same complaint. She was in pain but she'd maxed out what she was allowed to have. "Here, have some tylenol. It's prescription strength." Meaning she could have bought it OTC and just taken two or three times the dose listed on the bottle.

[questionseverything]

8. I am getting to the age where my friends are having lots of surgerys

I hear the same thing all the time, either no pain meds or very few

When one problem presents itself it seems the government goes overboard in the opposite direction

I wonder if that’s not how people get hooked on illegal hard drugs, looking for relief doctors can’t/ aren’t allowed to give

[inthewind21]

26. Today's surgery

Is NOT like that of the past. Hip replacements that have the patient walking the halls the same day. Laser back surgery (which I had) that allowed me to leave the hospital the same day, walk out on my own and get on a plane and fly 3 days later. And that was cleaning up sever stenosis, removing 8 cysts off my spine and repairing 2 blown out discs. I continued to have pain for about 2 weeks afterward, as my surgeon told me I probably would because of all of the nerve inflammation. But, it was NO WHERE NEAR as bad as it had been in the past years. And about 2 weeks post surgery and the pain was gone. My mother had the same back issues as me and had surgery 25 years ago. She was in the hospital 2 weeks in pain flat on her back in bed at home for another 6 weeks, still in pain and she was never really "fixed" completely.

[questionseverything]

27. Lots of surgical procedures are less invasive than what was available years ago

Laser is one of those

But no one should think every outcome is the same or that someone else’s pain isn’t legit

[shrike3]

20. Tylenol was useless for me after knee surgery

I've known others who felt the same.

[questionseverything]

30. Tylenol can be deadly faster than narcotics if you use too many

[shrike3]

36. Yes, I know.

I do not know why the surgeons around here push it so hard. Tylenol extra strength. You're supposed to "take it on a schedule" and it'll work.

A friend of mine gave me his bottle of meloxicam. One, maybe two pills a day got the job done.

[Samrob]

10. For some back surgeries pain treatment can take as long as several months and then there is

the danger of becoming addicted and getting little relief from prescribed doses. it is a vicious thing. The guy may have been suffering from long-term back pain before his operation and already taking major does of pain medication. His level of drug relief may have been so high he could not receives additional prescriptions.

[questionseverything]

12. If his pain level was that high I would think he would still be in hospital

[Texasgal]

13. Pain levels don't keep you in the hospital.

Once you are walking, time to let you go!

[Hekate]

16. Insurance companies want patients out of the hospital and back home asap...

I had a total knee replacement at age 72 and was told it was an outpatient surgery and I had to be on my way home in 23 hours. That is insane, heartless, cruel, and stupid. The orthopedic surgeon didn’t like it and the nurses at the hospital didn’t approve, but Aetna knew be$t.

Thank God my husband is very good with insurance companies and the medical profession generally. Turns out the nurses at the hospital have their little ways, and one of them is they will look at a post surgical patient and decide they should stay longer, so I ended up with almost 48 hours before going home.

[questionseverything]

28. Sorry you had to go through that

Healthcare is about hospitals and providers making money, actual patient care seems to be far down the list

[Hekate]

31. I was one of the lucky ones bcs my husband was in my corner. But do you remember the outcry...

…over what people called “drive-thru mastectomies”? The insurance companies decided women should go right home after breast removal for cancer, and they should be taught “self care” to do nursing duty on themselves at home.

They backed up on that, but not far enough. My mother was sent home with draining tubes still in place and dressings she was supposed to change herself.

And childbirth. They want women outta there. Lots of bad things can go wrong after giving birth, for both the baby and the mother. Women should have a minimum of 48 hours in the hospital.

[xmas74]

35. I was discharged with a sub pubic drain

And a drain on the left side of my abdomen recently. The both quickly became infected no matter what I did to keep them clean. One drain fell out on its own.

I had more time in the hospital than most-3 days in ICU due to a blood transfusion and 2 in med surg. I've been informed by older nurses that my old school abdominal surgery would have been a week or more in the hospital years ago, especially since there was talk of another transfusion just 90 minutes before discharge.

Insurance rushes everyone out too fast.

[GoodRaisin]

11. He could have been having nerve pain.

Pretty common with back surgeries, and pain meds often do not work well for it.

[TomSlick]

17. I think we're missing the point.

The problem is not that this guy was experiencing pain after back surgery, nor whether the doctor was hampered from prescribing pain meds.

There are two real problems. The first problem is that too many in this country have decided that the response to any grievance is to shot someone. The second problem is that someone with a grievance can stop at the gun store on the way to confront the person they believe has wronged them (or anyone who gets in their way) and buy a weapon of war.

I do not have an answer to the first problem but the second problem has an obvious answer. A civilian should not be able to buy a weapon of war on a whim. So long as his country's gun fetish continues, none of us is safe from any person looking to avenge a grievance.

[shrike3]

21. Yes, you are right.

I think most of us have had such a bad experience with pain we can empathize with that part of his problem.

But none of us decided to go kill our doctors.

[crickets]

34. This exactly. nt

[questionseverything]

39. A lot of people think the dea playing doctor is a problem

But obviously being able to buy such a powerful gun on a whim is a huge problem

[summer_in_TX]

18. After my husband's hip replacement surgery, he was prescribed

a narcotic and sent home with a week's supply. We were shocked to find that we couldn't get a refill unless he or I went to pick up the script in person. (He'd had a heart valve replaced and bypass about a year before and was prescribed the same pain med without that restriction.) We live an hour and a half (one way) from the surgical hospital.

I had to get someone to cover me at work and go get it. By the time I was back and had the script filled he was in incredible pain again. The doctor had advised us to stay ahead of the pain or it would get bad, but we couldn't do that under the new rules.

The best pain management I ever had was by a family doctor who alternated a narcotic that could only be taken 4 times a day (and lasted 4 hours) with prescription strength Ibuprofen, ensuring that it never had time to lapse.

I've had surgeons so scared I'd get addicted that they totally botched the prescription giving me one that had bad side effects, and refused to give me another pain med.

[questionseverything]

24. I am sorry for what you had to go through

[summer_in_TX]

40. Thank you!

Pain management is rarely done well in the US.

[AngryOldDem]

22. Back pain can be excruciating...

….but not to the point where you want to kill.

I thought I read where a stray bullet killed the other doctor.

[Tree Lady]

23. Pain was so bad before surgery

I wanted to die. Never thought once of killing anyone else. For one thing I was too weak and could barely move.

[BlackSkimmer]

33. He wanted meds, I bet.

There was a case not too long ago where some former "football hero" killed a doc in SC (and his family and two unlucky HVAC guys) because the doc wouldn't give him pills. Too lazy to look it up, but it was Rock Hill, SC I think.

This guy wanted drugs, for real pain or imagined, who knows. Scum.

[Wingus Dingus]

38. I hope his back pain never ends, in hell.