this is scary stuff.

[gategrrl]

Fascinating article about how the ICU treatments may actually be harming the patients they're supposed to helping by over medicating narcotics and sedatives and not allowing the patients contact with reality, for weeks at a time. Even a short stay of a few days can devastate a person years later.

Comments

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is kind of scary. I think there's a lot that is pretty common in medicine in which the treatment is much worse than the actual problem it's supposedly curing.

[jomadge.livejournal.com]

The only thing that bugs me about that article is that it suggests over and over that the ICU stays were unquestioningly the cause of all these patient's post-ICU problems. What about the grave conditions that put them in the ICU in the first place?

I'm not saying the article is wrong. Clearly it raises some very good questions that need to be answered.

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

Like this is news? Heh. The general rule of thumb here in S. Florida is that you need to absolutely make sure you never, EVER leave anybody alone in the hospital (especially if they are over the age of 60) because you will end up with some kind of vegetable. Case in point, my great uncle was hit by a car - he must've been in his late 80's at the time. He was a spry old guy, always walked everywhere in his neighborhood. Anyway, the accident wasn't bad, he was mostly just knocked down and got his arms and knees scraped a bit. He picked himself up and WALKED home, he was fine. It wasn't until later that his niece insisted he go to the hospital to get checked out. Well, he WALKED into that hospital on his own and a few hours later when his niece was allowed to see him, he didn't recognize her. They wheeled him out three days later and he was never the same again. Oh and in case you are wondering, they found no injuries to him due to the car accident.

So yeah, not exactly news. But still scary as shit.

ETA - heh...should have read the article before posting. But still, hospitals in general scare me, ICU or no.