Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Lies, Obfuscation and "Informed" Consent

Recently I looked around the web to see what kind of informed consent was given for Versed sedation specifically.  You can google it yourself.  Anyway, I found a ton of so-called "informed consent" samples for Versed/Midazolam/sedation.  I have linked to some of them below.  I point out that in every single one of them, Versed effects NOT described properly at all.  Not even close!  I did not cherry pick these.  I simply went down the list...

http://www.ghc.org/customerservice/forms/informed-consent-for-conscious-sedation.pdf  This is the first one.  Notice that there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO information on it.  This consent is a generic consent to treat, not an informed consent as it purports to be.  NEVER, EVER sign an "informed" consent that looks like this.  Also note the "necessary" sedation and the carte blanche for anything and everything. 

http://www.nkydentalcare.com/docs/Informed-Consent-for-Oral-Sedation.pdf  This is the next one I looked at.  Look at the mix of truth and lies.  Obfuscation at its finest.  "The purpose of sedation is to more comfortably receive necessary care."  That's a lie.  Sedation is for the dental workers so that they don't have to deal with the patient.  It also is good for the obedience that we have seen in my last two dental posts.  The second sentence is true.  Sedation isn't necessary!  The second paragraph also has the same peculiar mix of lies and truth in that order.  I don't see anything about AMNESIA at all.  "Reduced awareness" my patootie.  At any rate this is one of the better ones.  At least it mentions SOME of the things required by informed consent laws.  I especially like number 5. (b)  "altered mental states" that may require hospitalization!  (paraphrased)  Ya think?  (rhetorical)

Adult Sedation: Intra-Sedation > Informed Consent  Here is another completely fake "informed consent."  Of note is the attempt to APPEAR to be giving information, but really, where is the information?  See anything about amnesia, obedience, babbling about your sex life?  See anything about PTSD?  Don't they always start out with the line about how this is good for you?  This one ties in with the woman whose MOTHER signed the consent for the complete hysterectomy story I posted a few days ago.  "If the patient is cognitively impaired but understands the fact that consent is being signed, he/she should be made aware of the document and should be present when the guardian signs the consent."  This statement should strike fear in the hearts of patients.  Apparently these medical people can give you Versed, claim cognitive impairment, and then have your "guardian" (husband?  wife?  MOTHER?) sign the document.  This is evil.

http://www.huttopremierdentistry.com/uploads/4/3/2/2/4322408/sedation_consent_form.pdf  Another fake consent.  Once again we have a consent which starts out with how wonderful this drug is.  Where's the part about amnesia?  "Reduced awareness" yet again!  This is an absolutely ERRONEOUS description of this drug.

http://www.hospitalalemao.org.br/haoc/Repositorio/0/Documentos/pdf_atendimento_internacional/A4_termo
_consentimento_anestesia_sedacao_ing.pdf     Not sure if this link will work...  However, this is another "informed consent" that patients should never sign.  All it says is that this has been explained.  How do you know if anything at all has been explained?  Also of note is that the medical people are not identified.   The janitor could be pressed into service to supply your anesthesia and there would be nothing you could do about it.  You are giving permission to do anything at all, performed by anybody at all.  These people WILL LIE about what kind of information you have been given if it isn't written down.  Don't sign something like this!

http://www.indianriverimplantcenter.com/Consent-for-IV-Conscious-Sedation.html  AGAIN we have the alleged "benefits" of this drug described in frivolous language, which does NOT approximate the effects of Versed.  Not even close.  How do they get away with this?  Where's the part about the dense amnesia?  The inability to stop the procedure?  The PTSD?  The deliberate torture?  This is not informed consent. 

http://www.med.navy.mil/directives/ExForms/NAVMED%206710-12.pdf  This one is probably one of the best, or worst, depending on your point of view.  What a crock!  It starts right out with "artificial sleepiness."  I want to tell everybody that my experience with Versed was a state of heightened awareness, not sleepiness in any way.  My muscles were "relaxed" enough to make it very hard to move and I was very uncoordinated, but sleep?  Not so much.  Freaked out, more like!  Here's an odd and alarming statement from this consent.  "Often sedation consists of local anesthetics (numbing agents) in combination with other drugs that can produce varying levels of sleepiness..."  I have never, ever heard that numbing agents are also sedation agents.  What a perfect piece of hogwash.  Plus, again with the sleepiness.  Versed doesn't cause sleepiness.  How would a normal person know how full of BS this consent is?  It looks OK at first glance, but it's full of untruths and obfuscation.  Please don't ever believe the crap that is in these "consent" forms.  ps there isn't one single word about AMNESIA in this one either. 

I am going to end with two "informed consent" pieces that verify my thoughts.  Here's the first one;Informed consent and parental choice of anest... [Am J Emerg Med. 1997] - PubMed - NCBI
"parents preferred nonsedation over sedation under the clinical circumstances described above."  Geez, imagine that!  Informed Consent in the Operating Room: Ethical Topic in Medicine  This one delves into ethics.  Those of us who have been injected with Versed, duped by one of these fake "informed" consent documents, wish that ethics had played a part in our care.  I think that the crna clubs should be teaching ethics, in particular the ethics of injecting unsuspecting patients with brain poison without true consent.

Anybody who wants to send me a copy of an informed consent which actually describes Versed properly and in full is welcome to e-mail it to me;  nomidazolam@aol.com  Rest assured I will put it up on the blog as an example of what a real informed consent looks like.  I just can't seem to find one on my own. 




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