Rude Things Said About Patient While Anesthetized

I've been telling you that medical people are verbally abusing patients after they give Versed.  A reader sent me this article about abuse from the "courthousenews" website;

www.courthousenews.com/2014/04/22/67225.htm

Here's the transcript from the site.  How do you like it?  KNOW that this is standard procedure for these people.  Too many people with recall have expressed their disgust and disdain for the comments and conversation FROM MEDICAL PEOPLE after receiving Versed.  Now we have it on audio.  They can't claim this guy was "hallucinating" or "can't possibly remember" what happened.  I think surveillance might be the key to reining in patient abuse.  We patients don't deserve this kind of treatment.  Thanks "Ken" for sending this jewel to me.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014Last Update: 8:48 AM PT

Unconscious Patient Says Doctors Mocked Him By RYAN ABBOTT  ShareThis        FAIRFAX, Va. (CN) - Doctors mocked an unconscious colonoscopy patient, joking that he has syphilis and talking about firing a gun up his rectum, says a man whose cellphone allegedly captured audio of the entire affair.      Plaintiff D.B. sued Safe Sedation LLC and Safe Sedation Management in Fairfax County Court, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress.      "On April 18, 2013, during a colonoscopy, plaintiff was verbally brutalized and defamed by the very doctors to whom he entrusted his life while under anesthesia," the complaint states.      D.B. claims that Drs. Tiffany Ingham and Soloman Shah, who are not named as defendants, mocked him from the second the anesthesia kicked in.      D.B. claims he had inadvertently left his phone in the room, set to record, having neglected to turn it off after recording instructions for post-operative care.      "The moment that plaintiff became unconscious, Tiffany Ingham, M.D. commented to all of the others in the operating room 'Oh - Oscar Mike Goss.' That is a thinly disguised substitute for the expression 'OMG', which is an expression of both exasperation and mockery, and is a well-known abbreviation for 'Oh my God,'" the complaint states.      It adds: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. started to mock, and then continued to mock, the amount of medicine required to anesthetize plaintiffs.      "Referring to plaintiff, Soloman Shah, M.D. commented that a teaching physician known to both him and Tiffany Ingham, M.D. 'would eat him for lunch.'      "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. agreed that plaintiff would be 'eaten alive' and also jokingly discussed a hypothetical of firing a gun up a rectum."      D.B. claims his phone caught Ingham talking to his unconscious self, saying, "And really, after five minutes of talking to you in pre-op I wanted to punch you in the face and man you up a little bit."      The tape allegedly caught the doctors discussing D.B.'s prescription medication and an irritation on his penis.      "A medical assistant at GMA touched plaintiff's penis during the colonoscopy," the complaint states. "Although plaintiff's penis is not involved in a colonoscopy, the medical assistant noted there was not 'much of a penile rash.' Tiffany Ingham, M.D. responded, 'No, you'll accidentally rub up against it. Some syphilis on your arm or something.' Solomon Shah, M.D. responded, 'That would be bad. That would be real bad.'"      The complaint adds: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. then stated to all present in the operating suite that, 'It's probably tuberculosis in the penis, so you'll be all right.'"      D.B. says he doesn't have either disease.      The complaint states that the doctors talked about "misleading and avoiding" him after he woke up.      "A female medical assistant at GMA recalled that plaintiff had earlier warned that he passes out when looking at the placement of an IV, to which Tiffany Ingham, M.D. asked 'Well, why are you looking then, retard?' the man claims. "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. also described plaintiff as a 'big wimp.'"      He claims the doctors continued to discuss how to avoid him after he woke up, and mocked him for going to Mary Washington College, suggesting that "it was unsurprising that plaintiff attended a college that at one time was a 'women's college,' a 'girl's school,' and wondered if plaintiff was gay."      The complaint states: "Tiffany Ingham, M.D. stated, 'Are you implying that he's gay? Because I know gay men that have more manliness than' the plaintiff. 'And I'm sure I know gay men in the military who just haven't let it be known that they're gay who are manly.'"      In a final remark caught on tape, Ingham allegedly said she would make a note on the man's file that he had hemorrhoids even though he didn't.      D.B. claims that he and his wife discovered that the procedure had been recorded on their ride home, listening in disgust.      "Plaintiff has suffered distress, including embarrassment, loss of sleep, and mental anguish, as a direct and proximate result of the conduct of defendant's agent Tiffany Ingham, M.D.," he says.      He seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for defamation, infliction of emotional distress and illegally disclosing his health records.      He is represented by Mikhael Charnoff with Perry Charnoff in Arlington.

Irony and Cognitive Screening

Today I got a survey from Medpage today about screening for "cognitive decline".  I find it rich that a medical website would worry about "screening" for cognitive decline when they themselves are doing their level best to CAUSE AND CREATE cognitive decline.  How many drugs besides their favorite, Versed, cause cognitive decline?  Statins spring to mind.

Exactly how is "cognitive screening" helpful to a patient?  What are they going to do with subjective and arbitrary results?  Is there a CURE for cognitive decline such that early prevention might help?  Can they treat the "disease"?  So the point of having a mandatory cognitive screening at age 60 is beneficial for...?    I see where it would be helpful for the estate lawyers, errant children determined to wrest control of the family assets from their parent and insurance industry people looking for ways to exclude people from coverage.  For them this "screening" might be most beneficial.  Not to mention the medical behemoth being able to have yet one more "routine screening" with a cost in the thousands to be run on their hapless patients. Maybe medical people should try testing some of their Versed patients for "cognitive decline" after they deliberately and maliciously create the same problem they now want to test for.  Let's see how responsible they are about using the drug after the test results show how harmful Versed is on cognitive function.

The next step would be to deny anybody whose "screening" appears abnormal (subjective) a drivers license?  Will they revoke say, a plastic surgeon's license or are the medical professionals going to be exempt?  Is the government prepared to pay disability on these poor people who have been "diagnosed" as inferior?  Who will pay for the lawyers that will inevitably be involved after a diagnosis of "cognitive decline".  Are physicians ready for a spike in their malpractice insurance due to (mis)diagnosis of "cognitive decline"?  I don't like the turn that medical care has taken...at...all.

Sure, let's give all our patients a drug(s) that are known to cause cognitive dysfunction and then "diagnose" them with same and ruin their life.  There is no cure for the new "disease" so none of this is for patient benefit.

A Reader Writes About Versed

Here's another untouched letter from a reader and fellow Versed sufferer.
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I continue to wonder at just WHY the medical establishment condones the use--or rather misuse and overuse--of Midazolam (Versed ) as is commonly done today?

There must be a good reason, right? Maybe it's just plain bad luck I had an awful experience. Perhaps in the big picture, Midazolam is really a Good Thing, but I just can't see it because it's over my head. I don't work in a hospital, so how can I really know what goes on from the other side's perspective? Or maybe I need to realize I am in fact just one of "those people" who are pains in the a*sses, crazies, over-sensitive types. It would be almost be a relief to believe one of the above statements as it could explain it all away. But no matter how open-minded or self-deprecating I try to be, common sense and logic get in the way and I continue to ask "Why?".

I understand one use of Versed can be to promote the intubation process (i.e. placing a breathing tube down your windpipe), supposedly along with other drugs, but that does not explain WHY they are giving it so early on in the pre-op process or why they so often misrepresent Versed's real effects to the patient. And yes, Midazolam is a money maker for sure, but so are other drugs. It's widely known that Versed is commonly used NOT FOR ANXIETY but for the convenience of the medical staff (being exceptionally fast-acting, etc.) And what about the many patients who unexpectedly did not suffer amnesia or full amnesia from Versed remembering not receiving adequate pain killers? Could that be it? They are spending on one drug to save on others? Even that terrible thought still seems to be not enough of a reason to explain the "why?".

The only overall answer that appears to makes sense is:
MOST OF REALLY WHAT GOES ON IN HOSPITALS THEY WANT TO KEEP SECRET. AND THAT SEEMS TO BE THE CORE SICKNESS AT HAND, WITH VERSED MISUSE/OVERUSE AS A HORRIBLE SYMPTOM.

They say a certain amount of secrecy is necessary for doctors, nurses and medical students to do their jobs, to learn, etc.. That can be said for ANY organization, and does have some legitimacy--to a point. But how much secrecy is really necessary? And at what cost to the patients? And who is deciding ?

I am reminded of the horrors behind the secrecy of the Catholic Church. For decades, it was the perfect environment for abusive individuals to target, exploit and run rabid in as violations of their victims were more likely to be covered up than punished and protection for the vulnerable was virtually non-existent.

Who is protecting patients from potential abuses in hospitals? And can they really be objective? An environment such as this requires exceptional oversight to protect the vulnerable. We're talking about likely sick and already-suffering people, not about having your car serviced. There have to be alternatives.

IT SEEMS TO COME DOWN TO THIS:
The medical community has clearly overreached, to put it mildly, in terms of what they think they have a right to do to patients in the so-called name of expediency, research, etc. because of the cover offered by fine print buried in paperwork and drugs like Versed (and who knows what else). And we haven't even talked about what is done when you are fully unconscious, although some thoughts below overlap that as well.

As this blog has mentioned, Versed, and so secrecy, can and are used to help hide mistakes and also violations of ethics. This includes but is not limited to violations of patient privacy and dignity, both mind and body. HIPPA is a huge joke. I had no idea the following took place prior to my operation and I suspect most don't as well:

OR TV
Most people do not know they may be being broadcast to remote locations to groups of people during their operations. Groups separate from the operating room, and of course the technical staff managing the video streaming, all have visual and likely audio access to the patient. And what is done with the recordings in the future? I have read that yes, faces are often recognizable, that the recordings may start very early (pre-op) and draping (or rather the lack of draping) is often ignored. OR TV, even when done right, should be opt-in only, not shrouded in secrecy and done without your knowledge.

STUDENTS
They are not just "observers". That is a lie. Students are likely handling you and commonly penetrating your orifices (male or female), for practice, while you are unable to object. You are expected to forget, regardless. Horribly disturbing when you have been drugged and can't stop it and never knowingly consented to it. And of course outside of a hospital, this would be defined as rape.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF/VISITING STAFF
Very possibly a high ranking administrative staff member could just pop by " to keep an eye on things", including you, half naked and talking under the influence of Versed (if not yet fully under), helpless to protest under the bright lights. This happened so often at one hospital the nurses finally got together to object, saying it violated patient privacy and the surgical field (sterilization). It didn't change much, unfortunately:
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x645250908/State-approves-new-NHS-patient-consent-for-operating-room-observers/print
Or a doctor unrelated to your surgery, perhaps from another hospital, could stop in. Sadly, you may be helping to ensure someone's vacation is expensed as a business trip because even though they were not medically necessary, they entered your operating room without your consent.

Having had a bad experience, I know I cannot be completely objective, but I am trying hard to be fair regardless. I'm sure there are those that have not been lied to about Versed, even "love it", and/or had very caring, sensitive caregivers. I'm not out to demonize all of the hard-working, ethical, good-hearted doctors and nurses out there.

But my experience was not a good one. I wince when remembering my childlike trust prior to the operation. I feel nauseous remembering how they gave me Versed though I had said I did not feel anxious. I remember how puzzled I was noticing how social niceties stopped after they gave me the Versed, having no idea what it would do to me. I remember the fear, terror, months of nightmares and more that came after Versed. While I may have moved on, I will never be the same.

Regardless of experiences, the issues around medical care noted need serious attention. Of course, people want to get their operations done, heal, move on and not think about what may have happened. Life is too short and all that. But stripping patients of their rights and violating their privacy should NOT be tolerated just because they signed a form consenting to have an operation.

An objective party needs to be in place to protect patients from abuses. For now, you can hire a patient advocate (not affiliated with a hospital). But in the larger picture medical establishment SOPs need to be reviewed and overseen by a truly objective third party to ensure patient safety, dignity and privacy.


###

Nurse Joke

This is from an e-mail originating from a web page called myhotcomments.com and it's funny.  Most of us have had an encounter with a nurse like this...
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Old Timer's Hospital Stay This is an idea for when they put us in "the Home!" I was sick and in the hospital. There was one nurse that just drove me crazy. Every time she came in, she would talk to me like I was a little child. She would say in a patronizing tone of voice,  'And how are we doing this morning',  Or 'Are we ready for a bath', or 'Are we hungry ?' I had had enough of this particular nurse. One day, at breakfast, I took the apple juice off the tray and put it in my bed side stand.  Later, I was given a urine bottle to fill for testing.  So you know where the juice went!  The nurse came in a little later, picked up the urine bottle and looked at it. 'My, it seems we are a little cloudy today.' At this, I snatched the bottle out of her hand, popped off the top, and drank it down, saying, 'Well, I'll run it through again. Maybe I can filter it better this time.' The nurse fainted.......... I just smiled. DON'T MESS WITH 'OLD' PEOPLE

My Hope For Versed Pushers

I have a hope for all those nurses and doctors who routinely poison patients brains with Versed.  I hope each and every one of you gets Versed whether you want it or not.  (especially if you DON'T want it)  Further, I hope that you have a REALLY bad time with it.  I want you guys to experience the sleepless nights post Versed.  I want to share the rage, irritability and sense of foreboding that Versed produces in regular people.  I WANT you to be unable to perform your job because of trouble with your memory after Versed.  I want you to be paranoid about medical care.  I want your whole life curtailed because of the fear of doing something which will require medical intervention.  I want YOU to be on Lexapro.  In short, I want to share with you the brain damage caused by YOU!  I want your lizard brain ON FIRE!  I want you to suffer with the rest of us.

Medical people, don't deny yourself a fun trip with Versed just because of little ole me, talking trash about your drug.  Go ahead!  Pretend that it's all about "crazy" patients.  You aren't crazy now are you, so what possible harm could come to you by allowing Versed?  Don't let me or any of the other authors on this blog scare you.  YOU know what's best don't you?  So allow that Versed be used on you.  If it's good enough or "necessary" to use on us peasants, then why wouldn't it be a wonder drug for you?  It's a "good" drug, just ask any medical person.  Except for those of us who have a bad reaction.  Live a little, take a chance on Versed.

For you medical people who have had Versed and you say it was OK...try this.  Have your anesthesia provider give you lots more.  I think 10 mls instead of 2 would do the trick.  Especially if delivered all at once or within a tight time frame.  Ask them to sneak it into the IV without warning you.  If a little Versed is great, then more would be even better.  I think you should try the maximum amount like you give your lowly patients.  I want to encourage those of you with high IQ's in particular to get whopping doses of Versed.  Just think, if your "care giver" gives you enough Versed they won't have to use those dangerous pain killers.  You can just lie there in pain, trapped in a body which won't obey your commands.  Sedated into immobility.  Perhaps the incredible "stimulation" (pain) will keep your blood pressure up.  That's a good thing right?  After all,  you "probably" won't remember it, so it doesn't even matter how much pain you were in.

Don't you worry your little head about being unable to perform your duties after Versed.  Either from the emotional trauma or the chemically induced Alzheimer's.  Your field is set to go up in flames anyway because nobody can afford you.  Maybe you can drive a truck.

I want all the medical people in the world to subject themselves to Versed.  I hope it goes badly.

The bright lining is that once you have had the experience that *I* and others are complaining about, I will let you be a guest blogger right here on nomidazolam.  Won't that be fun?  You can write to me when you are obsessively hunting all over the internet for an explanation of your symptoms in the middle of the night, when you should be sleeping.

A Reader's Example

I got this in an e-mail today and am sharing it.  There are a lot of similarities to my experience (and maybe yours) with medical workers and their drug of choice Versed.  I have not altered it in any way...

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My first and only Versed Experience:

On surgery day, I was told that prior to general anesthesia, they would give me "something to relax you, like you had two Mai Tais.” He offered I could have it now, but I declined, saying I was OK, thanks to techniques I’d learned in a “preparing for surgery” meditation CD. I’d also already turned down an offer earlier. When the surgeon stopped in and asked if I was nervous, I said I was “surprisingly OK” and went on about the CD. My husband remarked at my “amazing calm”, saying he was proud of me. I decided then I would gift the CD to the nurses and doctors afterwards to help them and their patients.

Then there came the burning in my hand as the sedative entered my body before they rolled me out to go to the OR. I commented on feeling some vertigo. No one replied. I decided to just be quiet from now on so they could focus.

In OR, I experienced a bit of a rough landing onto the operating room table as someone let go of me too soon. This time, I was quite surprised no one said "sorry”, or anything at all, to me. I wondered who all the people were in the room. I wondered when they would finally put the mask on me so I could count and go to sleep. I looked around at all the stainless steel and high tech equipment, thinking "cool". Then my memory gets weird…and ultimately I am smack in the middle of a conversation with someone as I “wake up”….Then the surgeon comes over, beginning with “You probably won’t remember this…” and explicitly details the unexpected issues they came across. I am self-conscious as there aren’t even curtains around the patients in this room and I can see a male patient just a few feet away.

Finally in a different room with my husband, the surgeon begins to repeat what he already said and is surprised I remember. I feel very nauseous. We go home. Almost immediately I begin experiencing a bad/"off" feeling, strange memory "snippets", heart palpitations, unexplainable anxiety, and mixed up nightmares that have real aspects to them. Like of people handling me in a way that makes no sense, and then in real life finding a tape mark where they were touching me. I strongly felt that somehow I had NOT been asleep for some time. Relatives assured me that there was no way they would keep you awake somehow and not tell you.

I finally called the hospital, half thinking I was crazy. I asked for an OR nurse but ended up with the anesthesiologist. He told me that it was rare for someone to remember so much and that yes, people are generally kept awake for some time in OR. Most think they slept. Most like this. He added the drug keeps you in a “relaxed, chatty state” but you have no memories of what occurred. "Don't worry, people don't give away family secrets". I asked then wasn’t it conscious sedation? “We can't say that, it's a spectrum".

My medical notes later confirmed the drug was Versed. Interestingly, the notes also indicate the patient’s state was “anxious” pre-op. I went ahead and checked the blood pressure reading from that time—normal resting range. The higher end of the normal resting range, but not high. My husband said flat out "'Anxious' is a lie, I was there". So no, I did not gift the meditation CD to the nurses or doctors….I couldn’t even listen to it anymore as it emphasized trusting the medical staff. I did. Now I don’t. Never again.

                                                                              ###

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Of special note is the "relaxed, CHATTY state".  So, what are you "chatting" about in your drug induced uninhibited state that an anesthesia provider would have to make an emphatic denial of?  I think you ARE giving away family secrets for the entertainment of staff.  Of course you are, why else would an anesthesia provider SPECIFY what you are NOT doing, if you are not doing it?  He's lying to his patient.

As far as the "two Mai Tais" how many people are suffering blackouts and dis inhibition from two Mai Tais?  This is yet another lie designed to hide the true nature of the drug.  Absolutely FALSE to compare a couple of mixed drinks with Versed.  Any rational adult would say there is no comparison.  Medical people on the other hand are using this as a subterfuge to complete their mission of destroying cognitive function for their own pleasure.  They know perfectly well that this description is untrue.

My crna came up with the false "diagnosis" of anxiety as well.  He was the only person of approximately EIGHTEEN (18) involved in my care who noticed this non existent "anxiety".  It's a big fat lie, perpetrated by medical people who want an EXCUSE to use this poison on us.  Want to bet that it says "anxiety" on every single person's chart?  Any takers on that?

This patient was treated roughly by uncaring staff once they thought she wouldn't remember.  It fits in nicely because Versed is also used to prevent the patient from knowing how badly they were treated.  It's an open invitation to abuse by staff.  What do they care?  They know they won't be called on the carpet for their callous abuse of the patient.

The Heart Cath

If you read my previous post about the patient advocate then you know I went in for a heart cath.  I want to write about my experience WITHOUT Versed to alleviate any concerns my friends and readers may have about the procedure.  I myself had turned down this procedure out of concern for getting Versed "the wonder drug".  I finally broke down and had it, more as a way to rule out my physical problem as stemming from my heart.

I had spoken to my cardiologist about the procedure and Versed and he AGREED with me about sedation with Versed.  Unfortunately for everybody, especially me, my previous experience with medical care was that they used lies and subterfuge to get me to the hospital and once there they proceeded to do anything and everything THEY wanted in defiance of my wishes and the law.  They were all in on the attack together so I trust NOBODY affiliated with the health care machine.  It's a bad situation to be in, when you know something is wrong, but are afraid to get necessary treatment for fear of Versed.  It's agonizing.

So, after I consented to the procedure I went home and looked on-line for a patient advocate and hired one.  She was there at the hospital with me, helped me fill out the advanced directive and cross out the parts I objected to in the "informed consent".  She monitored the input the nurse put in the computer which allowed me to relax.  She knew what I wanted and didn't want.  My nurse was on board with it too.

They took me to a room and threaded the tube into a vein.  I was surrounded by machinery and some really nice nurses, both male and female.  The pain was minimal, even though the tube was inserted in the tender groin area.  Of course I had a little Fentanyl on board to augment the local anesthetic, so it really was quite comfortable.

They threaded the thing right into my heart, injected some dye and looked around.  Part of the time I could watch the screen.  Fascinating.  I listened to the doctor's remarks.  All the while I was completely relaxed and comfortable.  I wasn't even bored, which is quite a feat.  Some of the stuff they gave me caused strange sensations.  One was heat which diffused through my body from head to toes and was gone.  One of them caused me to breathe hard.  I mentioned that it was getting progressively harder to breathe and was reassured by a pat on the shoulder and comforting words from my nurse that was handling the Fentanyl.  Once again she offered me Benadryl as a calming agent which I refused.  She was enough to keep me calm.

There was no pain from any of this.  I did feel a twinge, not to the point of pain, once.  Then it was gone.  As it turns out I had to get a stent.  I was not happy about this because I hadn't really given permission for the stent... I had been convinced that my problem was non-cardiac, but I certainly wasn't going to spring to my feet or argue with my cardiologist.  I had to trust that he knew best...and he did.

The most pain I felt was when the doctor removed the catheter.  I asked for, and got, a little more Fentanyl.  In the recovery room I got some Oxycontin in a pill and some more Zofran.  Couldn't be better.

I grumped about the stent being inserted and being FORCED to take Plavix.  I get injured all the time on my job and I don't need to be bleeding all over the truck.  I was NOT happy about taking a drug in this catagory.  I have a friend who is on Coumadin and his legs look competely black and purple.  He can't work any more.   The whole idea of having the tests was so that I could continue my physical job.  Plavix is different and I have zero complaints so far.

Once the Oxy wore off I couldn't believe how much better I felt!  Taking Plavix is a fair exchange for feeling so much better.  Getting a surprise stent is worth feeling 10 years younger.  The additional favorable thing is that I will be perfectly fine going to that hospital again with my advocate.  No more being spooked.  My doctor didn't lie to me when he said I would not be given Versed.  The nurses didn't lie to me and then give me Versed anyway.  Everybody treated me like I was a normal adult, not a "nutcase" like the crna's pretend I am.

I also got to go home the same day.  The hospital had started sending otherwise healthy stent patients HOME instead of making us stay overnight.  They started that in November of last year, so I was the recipient of that common sense idea as well.  The rest of my family didn't have to worry about me being gone and my dog got his "mom" to snuggle.

As usual I would be happy to answer any more specific questions, all you have to do is drop me an e-mail at nomidazolam@aol.com