Monday, May 31, 2010

Reminder

The thoughts and opinions on this blog are based on my personal experience, my medical records, my xrays and correspondence from many sources including but not limited to those involved in my care. I have used internet sources as corroboration for my point of view.

MD Whistleblower

I found this person by accident, but he makes valid points which I shall use to my advantage. Here is an excerpt; "Folks are comfortable when they are following the herd. I wondered about this observation with regard to the medical profession. How many of our medical actions and decisions are done in imitation of others? How many of our practices are examples of group think and playing follow the leader? Why does medical dogma and practice take so long to modify?"

"Physicians, including me, perpetuate practices that may be more based on custom and tradition than on sound or changing medical evidence."


Versed is a bad drug. It is causing unimaginable suffering in a LOT of people. It is allowing medical practitioners to be careless and abusive. The more we patients complain about the drug, the more mulish medical people get over it. They will not hear our complaints. They can't think outside the box, can't hear anything but their own voices. Group think at its finest.

Here's the whole site link; MD Whistleblower

Another excerpt; "Medicine is a great profession, and it can be better. We physicians need to be more skeptical and creative. We should challenge our own clinical practices periodically to verify that they are truly best practices for patients. It is not be enough for us to ‘do what we were trained to do’. For a long time, gallbladders and uteruses were yanked out for reasons that would not survive strict scrutiny. I enthusiastically endorse comparative effectiveness research, although I expect it will be provoke fierce battles from those whose economic survival depend upon the results Will hospitals be willing to give up the enormous amount of easy money to be made with Versed/Midazolam? Is anybody listening to us when we say that injecting Versed isn't the best practice and give reasons?

It’s easy and comfortable to keep on the same path without deviation. We need folks, however, who will shake it up and make us think, explain and justify what we do. I know that my own practice could stand to be shaken up. Patients can be part of the process by asking us pointed questions, such as, “Doctor, explain exactly why I need this test or medication now?” Unfortunately with Versed, we ARE trying to get this medication and its use and abuse explained and we are getting nowhere... Most of the time Versed is never even mentioned or if it is, its true nature isn't revealed. When we object to it, we find that we cannot refuse it! Why do we ALL need to be given this drug? Explain and justify this.

There is an undertow that pulls all of us to follow the herd. This is perfectly fine, depending upon the herd’s destination. If it’s headed the wrong way, however, it’s not easy to change a herd’s direction, but it can be done. One person has to stand up when it’s raining and lead the rest of us to drier ground."
"'ONE PERSON' has to stand up..." What about all of us who are telling medical people that this Versed is a bad drug which leads to patient abuse and which has long term consequences for us? What about an army of patients who feel that this drug should be banned, or at the very least its use curtailed. I am not just one person standing up... I am just one of the more eloquent. We patients want to change the herd's direction and Dr. Kirsch, you are right, its not easy. I sincerely hope it can be done.

The Horror Stories just keep rolling in!

Here's yet another person, complaining about the same thing that the rest of us are saying. 'Course it's all just anecdotal and all you in the medical field "know what I'm talkin' 'bout.'" (quote from comments on my blog) These people don't let reality enter into their minds, otherwise they would stop using Versed "immediately if not sooner" as my grandad used to say. To question themselves or the dogma they apparently learned in "Anesthesia For Dummies" is beyond what their minds are capable of. Anyway, chalk up yet one more victim of the amnesia and obedient zombie drug Versed/Midazolam.

Yup, we are all crazy, hallucinating, imagining that Versed has damaged our brains. How many thousands, tens of thousands, millions or tens of millions of people will it take before our "anecdotal" evidence will be appreciated? I submit that EVEN IF it is scientifically proven that Versed causes physiological damage (and it will be) we will still be subjected to this poison because it is so convenient and fun for the staff, and the providers rake in too much cash for shooting us up with it.

Here is the link. Versed Anaesthesia- The Side Effect They Don't Tell You About

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Versed so that students can abuse you.

Here is a post from KevinMD.com Article on "Is IV Sedation Being Overused?" Is this what medical care has come to? We are going to force patients to endure a dangerous, unpredictable drug, known to cause PTSD like symptoms, long term memory problems and paradoxical reactions so that med students can comfortably joke about their screw ups? Not to mention that the costs associated with the use of Versed are astronomical. Here's the link to the entire article. Is IV sedation being overused? KevinMD.com

lamedstudent May 8, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Heavier sedation gives an opportunity for medical students to be involved without scaring the patient. What patient wants to hear during the procedure “I’ve never done this before”, “oops” (or worse) or from the attending, “don’t worry, we can fix it”.

Friday, May 28, 2010

An excerpt from "Adventures in Cardiology"

I took the elevator to the 15th floor of the William Donald Schaefer Tower and handed a legal envelope to a clerk in the Maryland Health Claims Alternative Dispute Resolution Center. It was quarter to four on March 24th 2005. The three year statute of limitations for Pam’s malpractice case against Johns Hopkins would expire in an hour and forty five minutes. Because we couldn’t get a new lawyer so close to the deadline, we had to file the lawsuit ourselves, and then try to get a lawyer to take over.

The clerk took my check for the filing fee and time-stamped 4 copies of the twenty page complaint I’d printed out on my home computer a few hours earlier. She handed me my copy. “Hopkins, huh?” she said. “Watch out.”

I laughed a little. I thought she was kidding.

I have no legal training, so my plan was simple and straightforward. We put all our cards on the table. Our whole case was clearly spelled out and documented in the complaint. In addition to standard language about negligence and causation, there was a beefy informed consent case, made up mostly of professional appraisals from Calkins himself variously describing the procedure as dangerous, unproven, unsafe and ineffective.

A jury would have to believe that a rational person would have agreed to an operation if a doctor had told them all these things.

Hopkins had farmed the case out to Mairi Pat Maguire, a former RN, an nurse gone bad in my book by way of turning into a corporate defense lawyer, the two professions being at the very opposite of the spectrum for compassion, humanity and morals.

The case languished in the Health Claims Dispute Resolution Office for three years while Mairi Pat argued that it should be thrown out because we didn’t have an expert witness. I was trying to find a lawyer all that time, but it turns out lawyers don’t like Informed Consent cases or Pro Se cases. Finally, we had to withdraw from arbitration and file the case in Circuit court, where it was summarily dismissed because we didn’t have an expert witness.

But as I read the law, you didn’t need an expert witness for an informed consent case to get into court, and once you got there, you could call the defendant doctor as your witness. I found a lawyer who agreed and who filed and won an appeal.

Please look at my posts regarding "expert witnesses." These people went through the exact same thing as I did, and my judge threw my case out too, even though it was clearly a res ipsa about the informed consent. I too had to do my own tort against the hospital. I too couldn't get a lawyer to follow through on this case, nor could I get any other lawyer to take it up. So much for the NEED for tort reform, huh!

Wonder about the quality of medical care?

You have GOT to read this. This woman was a NURSE and look at how she was treated at the very prestigious Johns Hopkins. As an aside, I corresponded with a whistle blower Dr. in Ca and he had horror stories to tell about this medical center using massive doses of Versed and little or no pain killer so that the "stimulation" (pain and agony) would keep the patients' blood pressure up... Please note that Pam, the subject of the story, was given Versed for her procedure. They wanted her awake to feel them ripping her heart to pieces. Want to bet that she was also sedated in ICU subsequent to the debacle to the point that she had severe cognitive dysfunction? Versed is such a good drug. Not.

Adventures in Cardiology

This person's saga is similar to mine, including an unresponsive JCAHO, the inability for anybody concerned with his wife's care to tell the truth. Remember me accusing my Dr. whom I never saw at the hospital at any time of allowing the janitor to perform my surgery? Still doubt me? In one of my previous posts, you see where I accuse the alleged supervisor of the anesthesia nurse of lying? Is a pattern emerging? The anesthesiologist who CLAIMED originally to be involved in my care turned out to have never seen me or heard of me before in his life. So what was he doing in the PACU telling me lies? This guy has experienced similar ducking and dodging. He even takes exception to INFORMED consent, which is such a joke to medical practitioners. Nobody is enforcing any laws when it comes to health care minions. We are on our own...

e-mail from Casey

In response to your posting "Thanks for the nasty comments": I too assumed the treatment we received in regards to our Versed experience was limited to us and 'if they only knew' SURELY they would change their practices. I'd written a lengthy letter where I'd included many many many quotes from so many who'd been harmed by/deceived about this wonder drug when it finally dawned on me that they DID know and did NOT care and were not going to change their MO. At least word is getting out.

Thanks again for all you do and keep up the good work.

Casey

So, you see that I am not the only one who has experienced this treatment from health care workers. Somehow we patients have to gain some kind of control over these employees of ours. We have to be able to weed out the anti social, sick individuals. They can't be trusted to police themselves. We will never be safe in a medical environment unless we have control over the people we pay to provide services. WE PAY YOUR SALARY MEDICAL PEOPLE! We are allowed to say NOOOOO to anything at all we don't want, for any "stupid" reason whatsoever. (and have you respect that) We are allowed to stop the procedure AT ANY TIME, EVEN AFTER BEGINNING THE PROCEDURE. That's the law! We patients are supposed to be in charge, NOT YOU! It's the law. Get over yourselves.

I can hardly wait for the day that Versed is an elective "therapy" paid for out of pocket, just like in dentists offices. I am actively contacting insurance carriers about this unnecessary cost. If they will only listen to cost concerns and could give a crap about our other objections, so be it! With Obama's precious Health Care Reform (which is anything but) insurance companies will be looking for cost saving methods because of having to insure "high risk" people. Banning payment for the use of Versed could save them billions a year. I encourage everybody who has a health care provider to contact them and pass along this novel idea! No more Versed sedation = huge cost savings. Works for me, it should work for the insurance providers.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

WE ARE MAKING HEADWAY!

Here is a blurb from a study done in the UK where patients WERE routinely injected with Midazolam in the ICU. (italics mine)

These findings have led to a change in prescribing practice in our ICU. We no longer use midazolam for sedation, and our sedation policy is now based on administering propofol or lorazepam. This view is also supported by the Society of Critical Care Medicine's most recently published guidelines [10], which recommend use of lorazepam for sedating most patients via intermittent or continuous infusion and use of propofol for short-term sedation, and that midazolam be reserved for rapid control of agitated patients and for short-term sedation. As a consequence, we were unable to conduct a more formal study of midazolam's role in over-sedation or extend the study to a larger group of patients.

Here is the full text;Critical Care Full text Differentiating midazolam over-sedation from neurological damage in the intensive care unit

Rate MD's Post

I do not know this person, the doctor or the nurse. As far as I know this is a total stranger whose experience parallels mine, and the rest of us who object to this kind of treatment. Shame on you medical people. SHAME ON YOU! This abuse of patients is widespread... Thanks again to Paula for bringing this to my attention. The evidence is building!

Rating Feedback for Dr. Bernacki (1070286) RateMDs.com

Friday, May 21, 2010

Thanks for the nasty comments.

I want to thank all of you medical types for leaving me the hate filled comments. I am sincere in this. Originally I was laboring under the delusion that what happened to me was an isolated incident, and that it had something to do with my own personal failings. I believed that it was contained in the medical center I went to and peculiar to Aaron my CRNA and others at this place. Now I know different.

Now I know that this attitude is pervasive. Versed has caused a decline in good care. Versed has allowed people whose skill set as it pertains to patient care is non existent. No longer are people aware of the sub standard care because they are given an amnesia drug. Interpersonal skills are no longer required. Medical "care-givers" don't have to reassure nervous patients, talk to them about anything or be there for them. All they want to do is inject the patients with Versed at the earliest possible moment so that they don't have to interact with the patient.

Can you imagine how long these people would have their job if their patients could complain about the high handed manner in which they were treated? I heard the statements when they assumed that I would have amnesia. To say that I was shocked and angry would be an understatement. Not only did I get Versed which I had forbidden in the general "no drugs which will incapacitate me", but they were talking about me as if I wasn't even there! I couldn't object as I had slurred speech and trouble with my motor skills. I had NO IDEA that I was supposed to have amnesia! It was personal and I took it as personal. They hated me and felt that I was sub standard in every way. Now I know that this was nothing personal, thanks to the comments on this blog.

This attitude is toward every single patient. It wouldn't matter if I had the IQ of Marilyn Savant and the beauty of Marilyn Monroe. I (and everybody else) would still be disrespected no matter where I went for treatment. Thanks for your comments. If it hadn't been for the vitriol shown by you guys toward ANYBODY who doesn't like your attitude and your drug, I would still be blaming myself. I should have been nastier in order to not have them do what THEY wanted. If I were only younger, thinner, prettier, smarter, richer, had a different job, better hairdo, nicer, the list of my perceived short comings goes on, maybe I wouldn't have been treated like scum. Now I know better. YOU have the problem, not me. NOTHING that I said, am, or did would have made any difference. The disdain for patients and lack of people skills exhibited by medical personnel is because of Versed, not because of patients. Without Versed, natural selection would take place. People with anti social tendencies would be weeded out! Thanks for making this perfectly clear to me.

I am by no means only talking about anesthesia providers. My nurses were careless too. I got a kidney infection from unwashed hands touching me. My nurses didn't inform me about what Vitamin V was either. They took part in the patient bashing exercise after my Versed injection AND they kept on injecting me with Versed, when they KNEW that I wouldn't like it and had declined this type of drug. They all went along with giving me ga, even though they had all heard me decline this. Nobody stood up for basic human dignity or my rights. Nobody. In fact, just the opposite. One of my nurses, Jill, tricked me into signing a "blood transfusion" document which actually turned out to be an invalid informed consent. I think it was she who silently injected me with the first round of vitamin v. She heard me decline incapacitating drugs, heard all of my denial of certain treatments, my explanations about paradoxical reactions, heard me say Morphine (or similar) and nausea meds only, heard the CRNA say that vitamin v was simply a muscle relaxant and said nothing to me. She KNEW better, but so what, did it anyway. Nurse Jacqueline laughed when I came to, loose in the PACU, furious and throwing things, swearing etc. Jacqueline is the one who injected me with 4 MORE mls of Versed AFTER surgery ended. She knew that I would never have consented to this drug and never did, but she still injected it. Shame on her! They apparently all thought it was funny that I was so irate. They knew there was nothing I could do about it! Hilarious.

It wasn't only the anesthesia providers and the nurses either. My surgeon treated me with disdain as well. He was over an hour late for surgery. Instead of rescheduling, I was doped up and forced to wait, all the while being charged by the minute for Versed and the attendant nursing costs. His PA referred to me as "it" as in "I have a ORIF, where is it?" I should have left then.

The surgeons skill was sub par. As another SPECIALIST told me "It isn't the nut on the wheel that's the problem, it's the nut behind the wheel. With the level of skill shown by your surgeon, you would have had a poor prognosis regardless of what he did." This was because I was upset that I had this horrible surgery and wasn't told about the external fixator device before my ill fated ORIF. So, what a relief. The external fixator probably would have turned out badly as well. My surgeon was unskilled with ORIF, this is not my fault. It has nothing to do with his opinion of me, or does it? At least I can quit blaming myself for not being a Doctor and knowing all this stuff. I still wonder whether he was sloppy because he felt that I wasn't worthy of care. I mean, he didn't even CARE that those screws were sticking out all over the place. He claimed that it was just fine, that "objectively" (like HE could be objective over his own work) the screws were properly positioned. He was willing to let my tendons be severed. He never once mentioned that this is a common side effect. This is part of HIS job, not mine. He pretended that I never said NO to ga. He pretended that I didn't call his office on 3 separate occasions to remind him that ga wasn't to be used. IF I HADN'T BEEN SHOT UP WITH VERSED I WOULD NEVER HAVE HAD THIS SURGERY! My surgeon doesn't work on patients that are not knocked out. I was unworthy of this information prior to surgery... And conversely, if I had been awake, maybe my surgeon would have been a little more careful. So Versed allowed my surgeon to treat me with carelessness and disrespect. Thanks.

I don't want to leave out the rest of the support for this bad behavior in hospitals and medical centers. Thanks to the patient relations woman who explained the whole deal about "inferred" consent. For those of you who don't know, this is where your mere presence in the hospital, asking for help means that you are up for any indignity and any treatment they so choose. She explained that once I set foot in the hospital, that I was giving them permission to do pretty much whatever they wanted. So once again it isn't personal at all. It is an ingrained part of the arrogance of medical providers. We are viewed as items for hospital enrichment. Thanks Dorothy for being so unsympathetic and self righteous. For telling me that everybody is treated like scum regardless of who they are.

For the anesthesiologist who made all those false statements to me and pretended to know what happened when he actually didn't know a damn thing about the incident. Thanks. Your lies reinforced my perceptions of medical personnel. You made up a story out of whole cloth that you thought I should buy, even though your Versed didn't give me amnesia. At first it made me feel crazy, but now I know that lies are standard operating procedure in medical centers. Thanks to Versed, you can get away with it. Screaming in pain. What BS! I know better and so do you. Liar. But thanks for your practiced ease telling patients lies about their procedure. I did everything right and you lied to me. You have the problem, not me. Obviously this is a longstanding inability to tell the truth on YOUR part. Nothing personal against me at all.

For the hospital president who says that he has no fiduciary duty to make sure that the laws that pertain to informed consent are followed, thanks. It wasn't personal against me, nothing to do with my failings as a person, it has to do with YOUR failing to insure that informed consent laws are followed. At first I was upset about the lawlessness that reigns in your facility and took it personal. Now I know that you don't care how patients are abused in your hospital, it's not your problem. You don't give a damn about anybody, not just me. You are perfectly willing to have patient abuse go on because, after all, there is money to be made in forcing medical treatments in excess of what is necessary, and without the consent of the patient. Thanks for your hatefulness. Thanks to my "commentators" here too that let me know that this is not the only medical facility that condones this law breaking.

I am still amazed at the extent of the attitude from health care providers. Do you really think patients would trust you if they knew how you felt about them? It doesn't matter though does it? You only have to fool them for a few minutes until you con them into allowing Versed or "vitamin v." Then you can revert back to your true nature as exposed by the comments on my blog. It's disgusting actually. But even though I am absolutely repulsed your comments, I still appreciate the insight into your soul. The more hateful your comments the less I blame myself for what happened to me! It would be nice for a few medical people to come on here and chastise you for your bad behavior, but their silence leads me to believe that you are all in collusion on this abuse of patients. You can't all be this vicious, it isn't statistically possible, but boy it sure looks bad. Please keep the comments coming.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Before you read the next set of posts read this; Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder from Wilkpedia. As you read through the "comments" that I have put up, compare the "anonymous" ramblings to this description of a mental disease. Then draw some correlations between the comments, our treatment, and the description of this disorder. Items in green are mine.

The World Health Organization's ICD-10 lists narcissistic personality disorder under (F60.8) Other specific personality disorders.[5]

It is a requirement of ICD-10 that a diagnosis of any specific personality disorder also satisfies a set of general personality disorder criteria.

Diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV):

The essential feature of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (either in fantasy or actual behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of situations and environments. This describes any number of medical personnel to a tee. Especially those that leave me "comments."

In order for a person to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) they must meet five or more of the following symptoms:

  • Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements) Yes, yes.
  • Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love Yes, this is present in the posts. They all feel they should have unlimited power over us patients, at the very least. To hell with the law, patient wishes, long term damage from their ministrations, nothing should be allowed to stand in their way.
  • Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)(hospitals?) Judging by the "dumb ass," "stupid bitch," "moron," etc. statements and the highly amusing comment where she says "those in the medical field know what I'm talkin' 'bout," I'd say this is true.
  • Requires excessive admiration Yes.
  • Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations Hell yes! "automatic compliance" or we'll give you Versed and force you to comply with our wishes anyway.
  • Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends This is absolutely descriptive of the attitude of Versed pushers isn't it! "I am going to force you to take this med (and any other thing I may want to do, because I want to get paid enormous sums of money without any flack from a stupid patient) and if you don't like it, too bad, you are a 'stupid bitch.'" (among other trite epithets)
  • Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others These medical people who have posted most of the comments on my blog are very guilty of this.
  • Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her Not sure about this one, BUT, I only need five of these for a diagnosis. Since they all feel qualified (another symptom of the disorder) to pass judgement on me, I reserve the right to pass judgement on them!
  • Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. Oh yes, yes, yes! Just read the comments!!!! Not to mention my documented treatment at the hands of these barbarians. Not even my surgery was properly done. Tsk, tsk.

There you have it! I may be a "stupid bitch" and all the rest of it, but you medical people who write me these comments need to have your head examined. Seriously. LITERALLY! "Physician heal thyself." Or little nursey poo, whatever. Ta ta, see you next time! Oh, and please allow me a little time to respond to your pearls of wisdom before you have a nervous breakdown over it. I'll let you display your mental disorder, I PROMISE!

Another "caring" medical person.

Here are some of the comments in no particular order. These may be found under the headings which they were made.

"Wow you people are crazy. Do us all a favor and stay away from hospitals" I guess if you expect for medical people to not only KNOW the law, but to follow it, this is excellent advice. I am definitely doing everything I can to stay away from freaks like this person. By the way there were a bunch of posts from "anonymous" probably all from the same basket case... Happy reading!

So did you want to be awake and remember them placing the laryngeal mask airway? It seems like the proper anesthesia would be to prevent you from those unpleasant experiences. The documented pressure of 80/30 is not saying that is where your blood pressure was for a half hour, just at the intervals that the anesthesiologist was documenting. Since at that time your pressure was slightly low (in surgery and general anesthesia it is acceptable to have lower blood pressures, it reduces the amount of bleeding/complications) giving you 1400cc of crystalloid, which most likely was normal saline or lactated ringers, was an appropriate intervention. Patients in surgery often come in dehydrated do to being instructed not to eat or drink anything for several hours. As a general rule a mean arterial blood pressure from 50-60 is appropriate for a patient under general anesthesia. The 10cc of EBL is estimated blood loss, 10cc is less than a table spoon (15ml), this is probably less blood than labs that were drawn before your surgery. As far as charging you from more medication than was administered, in many areas versed is only available in a 5ml/mg vial, therefore unless you want to share vials with other patients, which would be dangerous and illegal, you will be charged for vials that were opened even if the entire amount was not used. The lowest documented oxygen saturation on the page was 94%, anything above 92% is completely acceptable and adequate for not only cerebral perfusion, but normal everyday conciousness and body function. So you came out of the procedure with the same number of braincells you started with...... which is obviously inadequate.
Obviously this person's unbridled rage that we would dare question them has led to an inability to actually read what I wrote! I WAS AWAKE AND REMEMBERED THEM PLACING THE LARANGEAL MASK!!!!! I refused to have ga and therefore, no need for the darn laryngeal mask! I don't know how many times I have to put this in writing, but honey babe, just read the damn thing before you go off half cocked! You idiots relied on Versed to create amnesia, which I DID NOT GET! I did not give permission for any general anesthesia whatsoever. I did not sign a document giving permission for general anesthesia. Read the documents. I did not give permission for any drugs that would incapacitate me. I was very specific about this. They SHOULD HAVE REFUSED TO TREAT ME UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, if they were that incompetent. It is NEVER OK to deliberately and maliciously defy the patients' instructions. If you will simply read the documents, see that there is NOTHING about sedation or general anesthetic, except in the replaced document made up one day after I had surgery to cover their sorry butts. You know the one that OMITS FOUR MAJOR SURGERIES ON MY FEMUR! My signature does not appear on the document. Look at where he (Aaron CRNA) wrote that the anesthesia plan was explained AND ACCEPTED! I did no such thing. Show me where I signed that I was OK with ga after saying NO at least a hundred times. Show me one single sentence anywhere which says one single thing about sedation, amnesia, obedience or anything at all about it. The arrogant little nurse TOLD me that he wanted to give me ga, which I vigorously declined and said NOTHING about any sedation, since I had already refused any such drugs.. The hospital was CITED for disobeying the law in this aspect and many others. Or could you read that? As for sharing vials of Versed... Are you freakin' kidding me? They should not have been using Versed at all, I don't CARE about what's left over. I got plenty of it in an attempt to get that compliance and amnesia anyway!
That being said, thanks for answering my questions about the EBL. You are right about being a dummy in that regard. Estimated Blood Loss. I am thinking I should have been able to figure out that acronym... "...crystalloid which most likely was normal saline or lactated ringers..." So this "crystalloid" is what was already in my IV? Is this so they can charge me more for having a different name for the same thing? This makes no sense. I had an IV which contained fluid. What would be the point of this crystalloid? As for the last helpful sentence; "So you came out of the procedure with the same number of braincells you started with... which is obviously inadequate. Would you care to qualify that with another post? I would like to see scientific proof that you know how many brain cells I started with and how you quantify my adequacy or inadequacy? Are you psychic? You have no way of knowing this. Just because I was attacked by you or somebody like YOU WHO FELT THAT THEY KNOW ME BETTER THAN I KNOW MYSELF, doesn't indicate an inadequacy of brain cells in ME. The Versed, which causes problems within the brain (which is exactly why you give it) was given to me without my knowledge or consent. This person broke the law because, like you, he felt that I was unworthy of proper care. I could extrapolate from that, that you are the one with the inadequacy...or should I say mental problem? As for the low blood pressure... Sure I am going to buy that my blood pressure dropped precipitously every time they checked it, but was fine all the time they WEREN'T checking it. You really do think I'm stupid don't you? They also had to put me on some kind of machine that squeezed my feet? I only know this because there was a charge of nearly $200 for some kind of booties... to use with a machine to help with my blood pressure. For somebody whose surgery is routinely (and preferably, as shown in many medical articles, not to mention the only way I was going to allow surgery to proceed) done with just the nerve block and pain meds this was quite a shock. This should not have been a surprise. Do you get that? Keep in mind that I have paradoxical reactions to ga drugs. Apparently I fight them even under ga. They have to give me enough drugs to "stop an elephant." There is no need for this. Just leave me awake. This is not an assumption on my part. I have ample proof that this is what works best on me. You have no right to decide what risks I will take just to make your job easier. It's against the law to treat me like that.
Does Versed cause a drop in oxygen saturation? If not, then how can you point to oxygen saturation as proof that Versed doesn't damage the brain. Obviously it DOES DAMAGE IT, prevent it from functioning as it was intended, WITH full oxygen saturation, otherwise you would not use it. You have no way of quantifying this either. One has nothing to do with the other. Try again.

my post from last night isn't here.... perhaps it made you look to stupid? I am very sorry that you feel slighted. I understand how upsetting it must be to have somebody appear to ignore you and your vituperative comments! I, however, have a life and I don't get on here all that often. Take a shot of Versed and forget about it! As for being afraid I will look stupid? Not really, it has been known to happen. Do you know the difference between colloquial "stupid" and "ignorant?" Let me explain... "Stupid" as you seem to mean it would be mentally slow? Unable to follow simple direction? (As in shut up and let us humiliate you and give you all the things you said you didn't want you "stupid bitch.") Or do you really mean ignorant in some aspects of medical care? I TRUSTED you people to explain FULLY and to respect the law as it pertains to informed consent. (That was "stupid" wasn't it?) Never in my wildest imaginings did I think you had a patient control drug like Versed, OR that you would actually use it on me in order to force me to accept your chosen treatment, over my objections. I was absolutely ignorant. Your job was to enlighten me. So who is at fault here, me, for not being a trained medical person and trusting your expertise, or YOU who are charged with following the law and obtaining informed consent after revealing ALL of what your devious little plans are?

"if you weren't afraid of common sense you would let people post repliles to your blog" Same as above. Also, it is very tempting for "stupid" me to correct your sentence structure, punctuation, spelling and capitalization, but I won't.

"your dumb ass signed it!" What you really mean is that I am the "dumb ass" who trusted you people. I did NOT sign a proper informed consent. Please look at the law and see what information IS REQUIRED BY LAW TO BE ON THE DOCUMENT. The hospital got cited and had to re-write the whole thing so that it conformed to the LAW. Since you want to get nasty; na, na na, you got in trouble, ha, ha, ha! The Joint Commission wasn't very happy either! Who is the "dumb ass" now? Had to make up a whole new "informed consent" which actually has information in it. Pages and pages of "informed consent" with names, descriptions and all the rest of the items REQUIRED BY LAW! Can't trick the patients now, can you! Hardy har har.

"i hearby authorize you to be a stupid bitch and sign all these permits to allow treatment and then deny it after your realize your too stupid to realize what i signed." No wonder my medical people couldn't understand the law, or that they are required to follow it. They couldn't figure out what the word "NO" meant. If you can't write proper English, can you at least understand it when spoken to you? What part of NO did you not get? The syntax, spelling and incoherency of this post is confusing to me. I get the stupid bitch part.

As for the rest of it, you "get" that the document in question is NOT AN INFORMED CONSENT DON'T YOU? So since the law does not recognise the document as a valid informed consent, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? At no time did I sign "all these permits" to allow treatment. All WHAT permits? (plural) It is YOUR JOB to supply me with all information that I need to make an informed decision. If I say no, it doesn't mean go ahead without telling me. That isn't what informed consent is about. Jeez how hard is that concept to grasp?

I said no, in no uncertain terms, with explanations. I said it over and over. So they simply shot me up with Versed (also against my will) and did whatever they wanted without consent. For proof look at CRNA Aaron's explanation to the nursing board. He clearly states that I gave consent for ga by "not objecting." He omitted that he had heavily sedated me prior to this lack of objection. You cannot give consent after being sedated! If I had signed an "informed consent" wouldn't this CRNA have pointed to it and said "See, she signed an informed consent which clearly outlines what I was going to do?" There was no valid "informed consent" ergo he had to make up something. The law says no dice.

Are all of you this insane about Versed? Do you have feelings that the law should not pertain to you? Do you hear voices from inside and what do they tell you to do? (scratch that, that was mean) Do you feel a burning uncontrollable need to use this kind of language to express your hatred and intolerance of all patients? Yeah, yeah I know, it's only those patients who take exception to your cavalier disregard for our rights, dignity and our supposed ability to stop you from doing whatever the hell you want to us helpless, trusting patients. You only like patients who treat you with adoration and look upon you as their savior. Have you always had this problem? Is that why you got in to medicine, so that you could knock people in the head, abuse them, torture them and be a GOD?

Last, but not least, cupcake, I don't need YOUR authorization to be a "stupid bitch" or anything else. Boy you control freaks are really something! You are giving me "authorization?" OMG! Tee hee!

"dont sign a consent for anesthia you stupid bitch!" Isn't this tedious? Really, can't you find some other more entertaining, imaginative, phrase to call me? "Stupid bitch" this and "stupid bitch" that. I didn't sign a consent for anesthesia. That is a simple declarative sentence, can you follow it? Again; I didn't sign a consent for anesthesia. It didn't do me any good to withhold a signature for anesthesia, as there wasn't an informed consent to sign for anesthesia anyway. (I assume you meant "anesthesia" and not "anesthia," or is this another medical word I am ignorant of?)

There you are sweety pie. I put all your posts right up here on the blog in post format. I also have your replies right where you put them. Are you feeling better? Wouldn't want you to go work on innocent trusting patients with your feelings of hostility and inadequacy...

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Girl with Cancer is Abused with Versed

I know, it's a shocking title, but that is all there is to it. This child who was already suffering, had her suffering compounded by careless, callous medical "professionals, using the vile drug Versed." Thanks Paula for bringing this to my attention! Here's the link. Sedation Free Help For Cancer

Monday, May 3, 2010

Versed as Control Drug

"After 10 milligrams of Midazolam he saw it our way and we were able to get him to the operating room table and start the case." This jewel is from www.nurseanesthetist.org

First of all this is way too much Midazolam. Apparently they don't read package inserts, they bought Roche's claim that the drug is harmless in absurdly high doseages, or they don't give a damn about patients, patient rights, the law or anything else. Secondly, notice the snide "he saw it OUR way." Anyway this man was drugged into submission. Was it legal? Should it be? Under what cicumstances should medical people be allowed to use chemical coercion to facilitate their plan? The current law says NEVER, but I am interested in the mindset of somebody who would assume that forced chemical coercion is "seeing things their way." You don't really believe that this patient "saw things their way" or any other way after he was forced into submission by this much Versed do you?

Notice how depersonalized this sentence is. "...we were able to get him to the operating room and start the case." "Start the case." My my, nothing human about this scenario! It isn't "help the patient," "begin treatment," "sew him up" nothing at all that would make one think that they were working on a human being, much less one who did not want their ministrations. I don't think that this person was in custody, so where do these medical people get off forcing treatment on somebody? Especially 10 milligrams of a horrible drug like Versed!

I have to find the information which states that this 10 milligrams is a yikes amount and that in that doseage there could be brain damage, hypoxia, etc. It's a wonder they didn't kill him. He resisted their kind concerned care, so they knocked him down with excessive amounts of a dangerous drug, KNOWN TO CAUSE PARADOXICAL REACTIONS and forced treatment on him.

Still Trust these People?

This one is from Cleary's Notebook. (www.ClearysNoteBook.com) I have long said that mandatory random drug testing should be implimented for medical personnel. They have unlimited access to drugs and therefore are at even greater risk of developing drug dependance than the rest of us. Don't bother to argue that these drugs are in locked cabinets, YOU or somebody you know has the keys. OR, you can do like these lovely people who are responsible for our safety and well-being allegedly did and simply "divert" drugs for their own use... They don't LOOK like monsters do they?

Four Lehigh Valley Nurses Arrested for Stealing Pain Medications

November 25, 2009


Tracy Goetter

Lisa Citrola

Christopher Evans

Krista Lichtenberger

HARRISBURG - Four nurses, who worked for the Lehigh Valley Health Network, were charged today with diverting prescription pain medication from the hospitals where they worked. They allegedly took the drugs for their own personal use.

Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the defendants as:

  • Tracy Goetter, 48, 54 E. Station Ave., Coopersburg;
  • Lisa Citrola, 48, 2094 Fieldstone Dive, Bethlehem;
  • Christopher Evans, 31, 909 Barn View Lane, Breinigsville; and,
  • Krista Lichtenberger, 25, 725 10th Ave., Bethlehem.

Tracy Goetter
Goetter, a nurse in the Cardiac Cath Lab at Muhlenberg Hospital, allegedly diverted waste Fentanyl in an effort to make her own Fentanyl patches for personal use.

The charges, Goetter started diverting the drug waste during her last two weeks of work, in late spring 2009. According to hospital records, during the final weeks of Goetter's employment, 850 mcg of Fentanyl waste was recorded, but it is unclear how much of that was diverted for her personal use.


Lisa Citrola
Corbett said that Citrola was also a nurse at Muhlenberg Hospital and worked in the emergency room.

According to the criminal complaint, Citrola allegedly diverted significant amounts of the powerful prescription drug Dilaudid for her personal use.

Corbett said that Citrola allegedly began diverting Dilaudid waste in August 2007. As her addiction grew, the waste was allegedly not enough to feed her addiction. The charges state that Citrola began signing out the drug in patients' names and used the drug for personal use.

According to the criminal complaint, in December 2008, Citrola started to inject herself at work in the bathroom. Corbett said that 195 mg of Dilaudid and 644 mg of Morphine were missing from the hospital during that time.

Christopher Evans
Corbett said that Evans was a nurse at the Cedar Crest Campus of Lehigh Valley Hospital where he allegedly diverted Fentanyl and Midazolam.

The charges state the Evans initially diverted the drugs once a week in May 2009, but increased to four or five times in June and then daily in July.

According to the criminal complaint, other employees witnessed Evans dispose of the drug waste, but it was later determined that this waste was saline.

Agents estimate that Evans diverted 7887.5 mcg of Fentanyl, which is equal to 78 vials and 47 mg of Midazolam.

Krista Lichtenberger
Corbett said that Lichtenberger, an emergency room nurse at Muhlenberg Hospital, allegedly accessed a Pyxis machine on her day off to obtain prescription medications. A Pyxis machine is a type of vending machine nurses use to obtain medications for patients.

The charges state that Lichtenberger removed 750 mc of Fentanyl, 11 mg of Hydromorphone and 400 mg of Meperidine for her personal use.

"Our Bureau of Narcotics Investigation agents are very active in investigating medical professionals who are illegally using prescription pain medication," Corbett said. "It is a potentially dangerous situation if the person you trust with your medical care is under the influence of drugs."

Goetter, Citrola, Evans and Lichtenberger are all charged with acquisition of a controlled substance by fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, a felony, and one count of possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. They face a maximum penalty of 16 years in prison and $255,000 in fines.

Goetter, Citrola and Lichtenberger were arraigned before Bethlehem Magisterial District Judge Wayne Maura. Evans was arraigned before Allentown Magisterial District Judge Anthony Rapp.

Corbett thanked the Lehigh Valley Health Network for their assistance with the investigation.

The case will be prosecuted in Lehigh County by Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin's Office.

# # #

(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Interesting Doctor's Sexual Abuse Case

Doctor's possible defense: alleged sex assaults were hallucinations


A couple of things jumped out at me while reading this article; This comment; "Dr. Glen Gabbard, director of Baylor Psychiatry Clinic in Houston, stated in a 1991 American Health article that sexual exploitation of patients is "a very common phenomenon" and that the number of false accusations is "infinitely small" compared with cases of real abuse.

"You don't want someone to be using anesthetic agents as a way to satisfy some sort of perverse agenda," said Dr. Butterworth. REALLY? Isn't it perverse on its face that we are getting a drug, Versed/Midazolam, designed specifically to hide abuse?

(Gotta love this one) "Medical journals note that with modern medicine, this side effect (sexual "hallucinations") though uncommon, has resulted in false and career crushing allegations against practitioners; it has also prompted some doctors to take advantage of drugs' "amnesic effects" to cover up actual assaults on patients." (italics mine)

I saved the best for last; "I feel it would be inappropriate to ask" about those experiences (sexual misconduct after drugging the patient) she said. (Dr. Erin Sullivan) "But if the patient volunteered the information, I would explain. We obtained informed consent. I don't go through all the side effects. That's not standard of care." Better re-read that! It's "not standard of care" to reveal side effects. How was informed consent obtained without revealing side effects? This is a violation of the law. Obviously Dr. Erin Sullivan, "who teaches anesthesiology and runs the cardiothoracic department at UPMC Presebytarian" has absolutely no clue what informed consent is, what the law is or anything else about patient rights. This is basically my point. Informed consent has nothing to do with being informed. It has to do with arrogant people like Dr. Erin pointing to a piece of paper purported to be "informed consent" which probably reveals nothing, that absolves her of all wrongdoing.

Just MY opinion folks! If you don't like it, change your evil ways. Quit using these drugs without proper informed consent which outlines the effects and side effects. Just as an aside, having your crotch groped, fondled, touched and threaded with a catheter just might make people think they are being abused, especially if they have been drugged! Having your breasts squeezed, touched and hooked up to a machine might make people think they are being abused, especially if absolutely none of this was explained ahead of time as the law of informed consent demands. Even if there was no sexual intent, there was still sexual contact.