Movie Review (sort of): OBSESSION

Saw "Obsession" yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed it. I suspect this was one I expected more out of because of all the hype about it, so I didn't end up liking it as much as I wanted to. All and all, though, it was a terrifying, terrific flick with a great concept, gruesome special effects (practical, not CGI - even better!), and an incredible cast (especially the two leads, Inde Navarette and Michael Johnston).

If I had one beef with it, it was the scene where Bear drives Nikki to the hospital. SPOILERS FROM HERE, SO BEWARE! ***

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After leaving the party at Ian's house, during which Nikki bashes her own face with a broken bottle, lacerating her brow and cheek, Bear is seen driving her to the Emergency Room. He is shown standing outside the car at the ER entrance, talking to someone in scrubs, presumably a nurse. At some point, Nikki gets out of the car and begins dancing erratically, with blood still streaming down her face and neck.

Although we can't hear their exchange, it's obvious from their gestures and expressions that the nurse is telling Bear they can't do anything to help Nikki. (This is pretty much confirmed because when we see Nikki shortly after, her wounds are still open and bleeding, with no evidence of wound care or suturing.)

As anyone who works in healthcare -- and has to sit through annual compliance training modules (which is any healthcare worker) -- will tell you, THAT IS NOT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.

There is a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, that states if anyone seeks medical attention at an Emergency Room, they MUST be seen, assessed, and medically stabilized by a qualified medical professional (such as an MD, nurse practitioner, etc.)

This law is in place to protect patients and prevent them from being turned away, such as in cases where a pregnant woman shows up in active labor, but the hospital has no obstetrics unit. The ED can't tell her, "sorry, we don't do babies here," and send her on her way. The ED, if it refuses to see and help a patient in need can face fines, as well as losing federal accreditations needed for Medicare/Medicaid funding, etc.

The same is true not just in cases of labor, but for ALL MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. If a patient shows up at the ED -- such as Nikki, who was obviously seriously injured, and actively bleeding -- EMTALA requires that she needed to be seen. That's not even counting how her erratic behavior would suggest a mental health crisis. The ED would not have turned her away, even if they didn't want to deal with her craziness, because she was having a medical emergency.

So just like seeing other stupid medical misrepresentations in TV or movies, like using a defibrillator to resuscitate someone whose heart has stopped (it doesn't work like that), or their endotracheal tube is attached to a G-tube pump (doesn't work like that), or their telemetry leads are stuck to their neck and forehead (doesn't work like that), so, too, is the portrayal of an ER turning a patient with medical needs away not an accurate depiction of how things are done. And yeah, I know I could suspend my disbelief enough to believe a One Wish Willow toy could make dreams come horrifically true, but not that an ER refused care. The irony isn't lost on me. Even so, it still bugged the shit out of me, especially in an otherwise great movie. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.