The number of prescriptions for a powerful sedative that can kill the frail doubled at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears it was used to control elderly residents in stretched care homes – or even to hasten their deaths.
Official figures show out-of-hospital prescribing of the drug midazolam increased by more than 100 per cent in April compared to previous months.
An anti-euthanasia campaigner last night said he suspected that the spike was evidence that many people had been put on end-of-life protocols or ‘pathways’.
In a comment:
As a Dementia Nurse, we planned ahead and ordered more Midazolam incase there was an outbreak within our hospital; thankfully there wasn’t.
The comment from the comment stream of the article implies that midazolam was being stockpiled by care homes in case an outbreak struck their facility, so there could be a perfectly good explanation for this. Some kind of sedation is necessary when someone is put on a respirator. But it is cause for concern when the sedative being used to calm those suffering from respiratory distress also suppresses the respiratory system.
This sedative is used in execution as well.
Were the prescriptions in the statistics written for individuals or facilities?
Is there a way to determine what prescriptions individuals received?
What percentage of these were on ventilators?
Sources:
- July 11, 2020. Stephen Adams and Holly Bancroft. “Did Care Homes Use Powerful Sedatives to Speed Covid Deaths? Number of Prescriptions for the Drug Midazolam Doubled during Height of the Pandemic.” Daily Mail Online.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8514081/Number-prescriptions-drug-midazolam-doubled-height-pandemic.html.
News. - May 19, 2020. Carolyn Wickware. “Supplies of Sedative Used for COVID-19 Patients Diverted from France to Avoid Potential Shortages.” The Pharmaceutical Journal.
https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/supplies-of-sedative-used-for-covid-19-patients-diverted-from-france-to-avoid-potential-shortages.
Magazine. - April 21, 2020. Juan A. Lozano. “Doctors: Execution Drugs Could Help COVID-19 Patients.” ABC News.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/doctors-execution-drugs-covid-19-patients-70264297.
News.
Related:
- January 19, 2023. Vernon Coleman. “Murdered For Her Bed.” Dr Vernon Coleman.
https://vernoncoleman.org/videos/murdered-her-bed.
Expert, Blog, Video.