Sickle Cell Disease in the Emergency Department: Confronting Barriers to Care

“You’re too pretty to have a disease,” declared the nurse in the emergency department (ED) dismissing Constance Benson’s reports of unbearable pain, a byproduct of her sickle cell disease (SCD). Constance, who is in her late twenties, is a professional actress and model living in Kennesaw, GA. Patients with SCD frequently have difficulty getting proper treatment when they arrive in the ED. One study found that they wait 25% longer to see a doctor in the ED than do other patients, even though people with SCD tend to have worse pain.   Related content