Some Need God and Some Need Liquor

He came in confused, delirious, his heart rate and blood pressure soaring. He had that beaten and weathered look of someone who once worked, once had a family, but now most likely just a sister as a next-of-kin since all the others had given up and moved on. Blood was caked around his lips and deep teeth marks were now imprinted in his swollen, blue tongue. His hands shook and he looked around and pointed at things that were not there and picked at invisible fomites on his wristband and the electrodes stuck to his chest.

He started seizing again. His eyes rolled to the side with a rhythmic staccato that seemed in sync with his now contracted arm clenched against his chest, and my first thought after ordering IV Ativan STAT was . . .

I hope they don’t close the liquor stores.

People need a lot of things to get through a pandemic. Sure, food and water—well, that’s a given—their medications, heat, and electricity. But some need God and some need liquor, and now is not the time to deprive people of either. 

Untreated alcohol withdrawal in the form of delirium tremens (DTs) has a mortality rate of up to 35%. It is one of the reasons why even local jails are at times hesitant to just “throw a drunk into a tank and watch him til Monday when the judge comes in.” It’s a recipe for death. Unfortunately some who regulate with a stroke of the “temperance” brush, listen from a place where no citizen NEEDS to buy liquor. Those legislators are simply wrong.

Countless studies also show that those who attend religious services frequently or have a strong religious affiliation have better overall health across a broad range of indexes. Unfortunately some who regulate with a stroke of the “secular” brush, listen from a place where no citizen NEEDS to go to church. Those legislators are also wrong.

I know a bit about Covid-19, I’m an ER doc. I swim deep in its devastation. I have seen a few of my friends die and I am simply not sure where the balance lies, but I do know this. From the everlasting light above the bema, to the celestial rays bouncing off a gilded cross. From the melodic sounds from a minaret, to a thumping palm against a worn-out book of Psalms . . . now is not the time to deprive our citizens of their God.  

Instead, this is a time for spiritual creativity left to the expertise of those who tend their flocks with valuable but “voluntary” input on social distancing from providers on the Covid front. 

And it’s also a time for those who need a bottle to be able to get one.

Dr. Louis M. Profeta is an emergency physician practicing in Indianapolis and a member of the Indianapolis Forensic Services Board. He is a national award-winning writer, public speaker and one of LinkedIn's Top Voices and the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Patient in Room Nine Says He's God. Feedback at [email protected] is welcomed. For other publications and for speaking dates, go to louisprofeta.com. For college speaking inquiries, contact [email protected].