Police give up taser for forced injections

[Christa]

While most people are aware of police use of Taser weapons, many may be fairly shocked to learn of an alternate method used by police in Nashville, Tennessee to subdue "unruly" people. The city has a policy allowing police to inject unruly people that they encounter on the street with a strong sedative.

One of the doctors responsible for this bright idea claims that it is the safest option available and that it is being used all over the country. However, a top medical ethicist says that it is troubling.

The drug used by police is Midazolam, which is better known as Versed. This drug is commonly used with patients undergoing a colonoscopy. It has an amnesia side effect, according to biomedical ethics and law enforcement expert Dr. Steven Miles.

While the use of the drug is safe for patients who have been screened and had their medical histories reviewed, its use on the street is a bit alarming.

http://www.totalcriminaldefense.com/criminal-defense-article-taser-forced-versed-injections.asp

[CoffeeCat]

1. Holy shit...

Welcome to the initial stages of "V For Vendetta."

If you want to know what our country will look like in a matter of months--not years--rent the movie, pop
some corn and enjoy the nightmare!

:popcorn:

[Lerkfish]

2. everyone is affected differently by any medication

are the police prepared to react in an adverse or potentially fatal allergic reaction?

methinks not.

[FatDave]

35. Or wait until somebody has a paradoxical reaction...

...grabs the cop's gun and starts capping anybody in a blue uniform.

[nc4bo]

3. What the fuck??!! Where is the outrage! Why don't more people care about what's going on??!!

In the words of Rev. Wright: "God damn America" for what it's turning into.

[Ilsa]

4. Versed would allow for rapes by police without the victim remembering

what has happened to them. Versed is a dangerous drug to be administered by an amateur. If they hit a vein, rapidly injecting it could cause fatal respiratory arrest. This drug shouldn't be used unless the patient is being medically supervised, which isn't likely in a jail.

[bananas]

16. "the patient won't remember how he got that footprint on his chest"

"Kalodimos reported that while doing research for this report, she found a post on a paramedics Internet chat site that said, "One good thing about Versed is that the patient won't remember how he got that footprint on his chest."
http://www.wsmv.com/news/16844880/detail.html

[Lars39]

5. I had a 5 minute conversation with an anesthesiologist

before I was given that drug. I also had to sign oodles of paperwork, yet they're giving this stuff willy-nilly involuntarily?:wow:

[jdlh8894]

6. How do they carry

a 20 foot needle? EOM

[ensho]

7. NO - shame on Tenn. - maybe the people of Tenn. are already drug

into obeisance.

this is criminal and against our civil rights.

where the hell are the lawyers?

[SmokingJacket]

8. It's like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. nt

[cali]

9. How is this Constitutional?

[arcadian]

10. Police performing medical procedures? All aboard!!! Next stop... Law Suit City

n/t

[VAliberal]

15. The logical next step for

the fascist police state.

The police - not even medical personnel of some sort - can draw blood or take urine samples, clip off hair - in a number of localities.

[Truth4Justice]

25. This path leads to "showers" with Zyklon B.

[Truth4Justice]

24. We are being treated like cattle. Welcome to Police State USA.

no national health plan but the police are doctors now.

[MadrasT]

11. No, no, no!!! This is the kind of shit we CANNOT stand for.

Does the ACLU know about this???

[Ilsa]

13. from the article:

Beasley probably was not aware of the 2-year-old policy allowing the police to have people injected with the drug to immobilize them and give them amnesia. Few people are aware of the policy until they are injected, and given the amnesia effect of the drug, many are not even aware then. The Nashville Rescue Mission, Nashville's mental health judge and the American Civil Liberties Union all said that they are not aware of the use of drug injections by police in Nashville.

Dr. Corey Slovis, Nashville's emergency medical director, says that the Versed policy is no secret and that he has no idea why so many people do not know about it. Slovis and medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy customized the forced injection drug policy for Nashville that has been endorsed by a group of medical experts called the Eagles.

Slovis says that the use of forced Versed injections is very common and when he surveyed major metropolitan areas around the country, he found only two cities that were not actively using the drug.

[hootinholler]

45. Let the Eeeeaaaagles Soooaaaarrr!

:grr:

-Hoot

[Ilsa]

12. Those Eagles medical experts apparently don't understand civil rights. nt

[bananas]

14. Is Versed Evil?

(edit to add: I remembered this thread when I had my colonoscopy and told them not to give me Versed;
there really wasn't any need for it at all.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1415417
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3391382&mesg_id=3391394

[CLG_News]

17. OMG!!! K&R - Rec #5 - hopefully, will go to top of all recs!!! n/t

[rubberducky]

23. Next they will be shooting us with this in dart guns.

ANYTHING could happen to you between the time of the injection and "coming to". As a woman I`m VERY disturbed by this. WTH is happening to our country??

[FatDave]

36. "WTH is happening to our country??"

Fascism.

http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm

[area51]

18. k&r

We have no right to healthcare in this country, but all of a sudden, police are dispensing drugs? WTF? :wow: How can cops possibly know what drugs are already in people's systems, and how versed will react with them?

[pleah]

19. This is not good.

:scared:



K&R

[central scrutinizer]

20. Calling Marlin Perkins and his tranquilizer gun!

Wild Kingdom meets Cops

[nichomachus]

21. This was the sort of thing we used to condemn the USSR for

that was before we became the USSR.

[tom_paine]

47. Bingo. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. ...

x(

[High Plains]

26. Back to the top of the page for this.

[I Have A Dream]

27. K&R.

:(

[AuntPatsy]

28. OMG, another instrument that can easily kill americans. who's ignorant idea was this?

[Lugnut]

29. WTF?

That's outrageous! It's time to make a donation to the ACLU.

[Christa]

30. Shameless bump

because I think it's outrageous

[CLG_News]

31. I'll bump this post, too. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

32. Cops are worthless fucking pieces of shit.

[FatDave]

37. You shouldn't generalize like that.

Only the vast majority of cops are worthless fucking pieces of shit. Just because we've never met an OK one doesn't mean he's not out there.

[Pavulon]

49. Reading comprehension is bad, like this source

EMT is injecting. This is written by a scum lawyer site.

[area51]

33. Kicked again ...

for the noontime crowd.

[Wednesdays]

34. Wouldn't it be rich if, during a DRUG RAID...

You know where I'm going with this.

War on drugs, my ass... :banghead:

[FatDave]

38. This is like something out of a dystopian science fiction novel.

I'm sure the drug corporations are all clamoring to get exclusive contracts with local law enforcement agencies.

[Solon]

39. Hmm...I wonder how many police officers used this drug to rape...

I wouldn't put anything past these pigs, and with the amnesia, the victim wouldn't even be aware that they were raped, at least not immediately.

[ITsec]

40. 98% of America doesn't care..

As long as they've got the big screen 50 inch Tee Vee, Dancing with the stars, Survival #25, and Amerikan Idol to keep them hypnotized.

[crimsonblue]

41. This is blatantly illegal

Any strong sedative requires a prescription for its use. All operating room drugs must be signed off by a licensed MD. The use by police officers flies in the face of the Hippocratic Oath, sound medical judgment, and existing US law. All officers that engage in this behavior should be subject to kidnapping, drugging, and unusual punishment charges.

[Pavulon]

50. EMT is injecting

this is a shit article by a ambulance chaser site. They are sedating people before putting them on 72 hour hold.

[bdamomma]

42. we are being treated like criminals not citizens

when is enough enough. V is right.

[Carolina]

43. this is absolutely awful

Versed is extremely POTENT but what do police know about dosages and giving injections (sites, sterile technique, etc)?!

[Dogtown]

44. K&R n/t

[alarimer]

46. Amnesia side effect? How convenient for the cops.

You can't testify against them in the excessive use of force trial. MUCH better than tasers. People tend to remember that.

[Indenturedebtor]

48. Holy shit. And what if the person has been drinking or doing other sedatives?

What if they have a heart condition? Allergic reaction? Not to mention the civil rights violation.

Wow. I almost can't keep up with how quickly we're sliding towards facism. Correction. The slide has already happened. The rest is just details.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

51. We are living in the early stages of a police state. Versed is a serious medication

that should only be administered by a medical professional. This is a frightening situation
that will leave victims unable to recall the events before and during dosing. How can one
testify about abuse if they have no recall?

[BrainStorm]

52. That seems to be the point, the amnesia.

Where is the ACLU?

[cyberpj]

53. That "AMNESIA SIDE EFFECT" is one of the most troubling points - and most likely WHY they use it.

I want my country back!

[L0oniX]

54. So when they arrest an unruly drug offender they give the person drugs ...how nice!