Mrs. Merda: An avid consumer of third-generation antibiotics and morphine

Abstract

Mrs. Merda has chronic back pain; her physician prescribed morphine and hydromorphone, but they were unable to provide relief for her pain. In desperation, she hoarded syringes and needles, along with multiple bottles of the aforementioned medications. In conjunction with her diabetes mellitus type 2, her medications made her very constipated. She had not had a bowel movement for days. Then suddenly one morning, she had fever as high as 101.3 °F, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and altered mental status. Was this simply common viral gastroenteritis?.