Versed NOT Being Used?

I was delighted to come across this recent discussion here;  Midazolam for induction: yes or no? | Anesthesiology | Student Doctor Network  More and more it seems that Versed/Midazolam use is being curtailed by the MOST educated among us.  Thanks very much to all the doctors and student doctors who are writing on the above link against indiscriminate Versed use.  Of course now that I'm calling attention to their discussion, I'm sure they can expect the 'nurses' to go over there and attack them.  Sorry about that in advance.

There is a quote that I just love that one of the doctors used in his posts;  "The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is."  Our complaints about Versed/Midazolam are the truth.  Versed is a very bad drug.  You anesthesia nurses and others can attack me for saying it, your (willful) ignorance can cause you to deride me and others who tell the truth about Versed, but in the end, there it is.

There are a couple of reasons completely missing from the comments about NOT using Versed.  Those being, 1) THE PATIENTS DON'T WANT IT!  Nobody, not one person, mentioned the growing opposition to Versed by the patients themselves.   2) The growing body of evidence, empirical AND anecdotal, that Versed causes POCD and PTSD. 

BTW at last I have heard Versed being referred to as 'Vitamin V' again.  Until today, I've never heard Versed described thusly except by my crna when he wanted to conceal the name and true effects of the drug.  Here's the quote; 

"If you haven't given 10mg of Versed + .2 Mac of Gas... at least try it sometime for the experience. Pretty darn smooth. Especially when you are gowned up putting in lines and have your hands tied up. A lot of old timers do their inductions that way in the cardiac room.

Not my preference, but I've done it enough not to hate it, and still do it from time to time.

100 mcgs of sufenta and 5 mg of midaz usually gets me through a cardiac case. I see nothing inherently wrong with that. Usually 2 of Vitamin V in preop, 1 more once they hit the OR table before starting the a-line and the last 2 right after going on." Italics, underlining and bold are mine. 

Look at the AMOUNT of Versed this person wants to use.  10 FREAKIN MG'S OF VERSED!  It makes my blood run cold.  The reason given is that it makes THEIR JOB easier.  "Pretty darn smooth."  Thanks a lot!  Destroy my brain and my life as I know it so that your anesthesia can be "pretty darn smooth." for you?  

"...there's nothing inherently wrong with that?"  (Using large amounts of Versed for no other reason than the 'smoothness' of their job)  Really?  Does your patients brain function after all that Versed matter at all, or are you solely interested in the surgery itself?  Does it bother this person that they may be sentencing their patient to a nursing home as a result of poisoning their brain with Versed, for no good reason?  Other than the issue of the selfishness of only considering the 'smoothness' of their job..

I also hope that the doctors reading that post do NOT "try it sometime for the experience."  Are you kidding me?  Subject your patients to a huge amount of risk for your own "experience?"  What the Hell?  Why would anybody need to "experience" what this is like, to damage your patient and gain experience poisoning them with Versed?  I'm glad this is not their "preference," but this kind of experimentation doesn't bode well for those of us who have been damaged by Versed...

Don't be discouraged when you read posts such as the above.  The thread was started by somebody who stopped using Versed years ago.  There are several that totally agree with this idea.  Anesthesia providers  are running out of excuses to use Versed.  This is a good thing.  The best of them are beginning to notice that Versed is over-used and abused.  Hopefully it won't take long before the smart ones override the ones who are desperately holding on to THEIR drug of choice, and start weaning them away from it.  It really is better for us not to have Versed...