Maybe 10 years ago I had a procedure done at the VA under sedation. I took a cab to get there. After the procedure they gave me a bed to let me sleep off the sedation for a few hours before taking a cab home. Worked well.
Since then the VA has adopted the same policy you're talking about--must be accompanied by someone. My doctor wants me to have another procedure under sedation but I declined, telling him that I refuse to tie up most of someone else's day just to hang around waiting for me when I know from personal experience that it's not necessary. Other people have jobs and things of their own to do.
I suspect what happened is that at some point somebody someplace was put under sedation and after their procedure decided they were in good enough shape to drive but they got behind the wheel and killed somebody on the highway. Maybe the institution/government got sued out of a fortune for letting them leave unaccompanied and now everybody has to pay for it. Or something like that.
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