Drug cocktail expected effects

[Dickiesimkins]

I was given the following drug cocktail after I was beaten for about five hours. The beatings occurred in the hospital and the gentleman who beat me was the hospital administrators nephew. The drugs I was given are as follows and were given in the following order according to the medical file.

Ancef26m

Haldol 5mg
Benadryl 25mg
Fentanyl 5mg

Haldol 5mg
Benadryl 25mg
ativan 1mg

Ketamine 250mg

Versed 4mg

These drugs were all administered "iv push" in two or three different syringes over a period of about 30 minutes. There were also other drugs given but I'm not sure what they all were. To note that my blood alcohol level was at .0174 and there was also a high level of cannabis in my system. I believe that I was also given dilaudid right afterwards, but the medical file claims that it was not given, but prescribed. Worth noting I have never been prescribed any of these drugs before so they were all given as a first time usage. I also had a significant head injury and was struck in my head several times over the course of hours before the drugs were given.

After the drugs were given I experienced debilitating cognitive effects specifically memory dysfunction, adhedonia, agitation, depression, and mood swings these increased for about 40 days and then began to subside very slowly. I have been to several doctors since and none of them are willing to discuss this drug cocktail. I am looking to find any information on what the expected outcome of this drug cocktail would have been. I haven't been able to find any studies on such a concoction and all the information I have found would certainly suggest that mixing all these compounds would have no beneficial effects.

Thank you for any help you can give me in shedding some light onto this subject.

 

[sekio]

Sounds like pretty standard treatment for a belligerent/drunk/psychotic individual presenting to ER, nothing new here.

The diphenhydramine/haloperidol/lorazepam combo is particularly nasty in terms of effects; I've had just the haldol alone and been effectively chemically crippled for a few days. Mind you it didn't take more than a week to feel back at baseline.

There's no way that it would take 40+ days for the drugs to clear your system though, most symptoms presenting at this stage would just be from the traumatic experience/stress.

would certainly suggest that mixing all these compounds would have no beneficial effects.

Well, not quite, the combination is well-known and used for a good reason, to me it looks like the doctors were trying their best to keep you immobilized and sedated. Certainly by the time you add in ketamine and Versed... those are pretty standard anesthetic/amnesic agents.

 

[Dickiesimkins]

To clarify I was given those injections one after the other as grouped. Not slowing administered but mainline slammed all at once. Also note that I have never been diagnosed as psychotic and as it turns out the haldol was of the intramuscular variety. I'm just looking for any knowledge of studies that recommend the mixing of this cocktail. All the information I have encountered say it would likely cause a rise in co2 within ones blood stream and effectively starve my organs for oxygen for an unspecified period of time. Also I have noted that injectable haldol has a half life of 21.5 days, so an overdose of it with the combination of other drugs would likely extend the halflife, but to what degree? The enzyme CYP2D6 was most certainly targeted for consumption but to what end? Was this what lead to the increased co2 levels? Does anyone have any links to a study where all these drugs are mixed like this?

 

[novaveritas]

To clarify I was given those injections one after the other as grouped. Not slowing administered but mainline slammed all at once. Also note that I have never been diagnosed as psychotic and as it turns out the haldol was of the intramuscular variety. I'm just looking for any knowledge of studies that recommend the mixing of this cocktail. All the information I have encountered say it would likely cause a rise in co2 within ones blood stream and effectively starve my organs for oxygen for an unspecified period of time. Also I have noted that injectable haldol has a half life of 21.5 days, so an overdose of it with the combination of other drugs would likely extend the halflife, but to what degree? The enzyme CYP2D6 was most certainly targeted for consumption but to what end? Was this what lead to the increased co2 levels? Does anyone have any links to a study where all these drugs are mixed like this?

Just sue the hospital for administering treatment without informed consent, whether it caused lasting damage or not is not important this is open and shut assualt and battery. A no win no fee will take this if what you have said is true. it will be up to the defendent to mitigate the damages awarded by showing that the treatment wasn't very noxious. not your problem.

 

[Dickiesimkins]

All the no win no fee places were very interested until they found out who was involved. This is very true. I'm sueing pro se and looking for some help breaking this drug cocktail down. Hopeful that some of these wizards will drop the knowledge bomb.

 

[sekio]

All the information I have encountered say it would likely cause a rise in co2 within ones blood stream and effectively starve my organs for oxygen for an unspecified period of time.

It would be good to see this "information" as I don't see how haldol would raise blood CO2. Acidosis is not a common side effect of haldol to my knowledge.

More importantly, elevated blood CO2 would probably be present as bicarbonate ions (blood is almost always pH 7.4 even if you add CO2 thanks to buffering effects) as the solubility of CO2 in blood is kind of limited. Also hemoglobin will still effectively bind oxygen even in the presence of "solubilized" CO2-as-bicarbonate. So I'm not sure why you'd think elevated CO2 causes organ damage. You can raise your blood CO2 significantly just by changing breathing patterns.

Speaking as a Canadian, you'd have absolutely no chance in hell of winning an assault case against a doctor unless you can prove it was some sort of freaky black bag job (abducted from your home at night?). Despite how nasty the effects of said drugs are, they have precedence for use in agitation and delerium.

It's odd to note that despite this, the FDA doesn't actually approve haloperidol for use for agitation/delerium. It's therefore used "off label", but that's not a crime in the US (marketing a drug for off-label use is however)

Somehow I don't think you're telling the full story here... I just don't see someone with a 0.017 BAC and a shitload of THC being 100% chill and indistinguishable from a sober individual. Unless you're a high-functioning chronic alcoholic. You never mentioned WHY you ended up in the hospital either... normally people don't go to just chill in a hospital after a fat blunt and some foties.

I also highly doubt someone could beat on you for 5 hours in a hospital where there's almost always nurses running back and forth, security cameras, etc. Unless you are insinuating that there was some sort of conspiracy with the end goal of making your life hell, at considerable risk and with no apparent gain to the individuals involved.

All the no win no fee places were very interested until they found out who was involved.

probably because they realize that you have pretty much no chance of winning a suit with these circumstances.

 

[Dickiesimkins]

Motorcycle crash.

The places all said the suit would be too costly for them because this particular guy has a lot of money power and influence in my area and I guess he got mad at me for his own screw up a few years ago.

I filed suit and the judge ordered all the defendants served and they have been served, and I am confident I have enough evidence to win, of course or the I wouldn't have filed suit, the judge would not have approved the suit if it had no merit so I think I'm good with that. Actually trying to discuss the actual drug cocktail but to quench the obvious next logical inquiry is to why this guy beat me up was because he falsely arrested me a few years back and got transferred to the shitty part of town and he wanted revenge. He pistol whipped me at the scene and then demanded that I be transported to the hospital where his aunt is the president I was then subjugated and tormented for five hours, with over 20 doctors and nurses present, some participated some tried to help, everyone terrified. This guy has already killed someone who was having a diabetic seizure and is being sued and the only lawyer I could find that was interested was all the way in LA and I had to front expenses, I just sued them myself, the Federal Judges in my area are well known civil rights advocates so I'm hopeful.
Canada sucks for medical treatment for sure.

I also told them I didn't want treated on religious grounds. Here in the good old USA you are not aloud to touch someone who doesn't want touched.

Back to the drug cocktail, anyone know of any links at all that contain any studies showing this mix is safe? I kind of feel like I was experimented on.

 

[sekio]

Canada sucks for medical treatment for sure.

On the contrary, I've never had to pay a cent for my hospital stays. And here they make an effort to get you out of the hospital, even if you've been sectioned to the mental health unit.

Motorcycle crash.

You're lucky to be alive... a DUI on a motorcycle is usually fatal. I could see how that would color the opinion of someone treating you. What sort of injuries did you have and what were the circumstances of the accident?

with over 20 doctors and nurses present,

Well then, it should be an open and shut case.

I also told them I didn't want treated on religious grounds. Here in the good old USA you are not aloud to touch someone who doesn't want touched.

Refusal of care isn't absolute, if you present a danger to yourself or others or are too intoxicated to consent. See also: https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(17)30453-5/pdf

So, story time:
1. You crash your bike
2. Paramedics/LEO shows up
3. LEO beats the shit out of you as you lay bleeding on the side of the road?
4. Paramedics transport you to the hospital
5. For no reason at all, you are given Haldol etc. and beaten for 5 hours.

Or maybe:
1. You crash your bike
2. Paramedics/LEO show up
3. You are belligerent and clearly intoxicated and resist/struggle/lash out at the paramedics.
4. Transported to hospital
5. The combination of stress, intoxication, and fear causes even more belligerence, necessitating restraints and chemical sedation.
6. Continued efforts to sedate/restrain you cause even more aggressive behaviour.
7. Eventually the doctor in charge says "fuck it" and plays his trump card, Deliver Haldol Bolus IM.
8. Haldol doesn't work fast enough or well enough and they give you some ketamine as a consolation prize. (shit I'd love to get a 250mg ketamine shot, any day)

I mean, statistically speaking, I'm gonna give odds that the 2nd version of this story is way more probable. It's not unusual to have people have altered states of conciousness after taking a beating. Certainly the alcohol and marijuana don't help things.


You can do a google search to see that the combination of haldol+diphenhydramine is pretty common as is haldol+lorazepam. Haldol+diphenhydramine is commonly used because the diphenhydramine counteracts some of the side effects Haldol can produce; likewise Haldol+lorazepam is used because of the potential anxiolytic effects of lorazepam (even though studies suggest it may not be effective).

Here's a powerpoint that notes the use of Haldol/diphenhdyramine/lorazepam as something known as a "B52", presumably because it reduces your conscious mind to a pile of steaming rubble. If there's a nickname for the cocktail I'll suggest it's pretty widely used.

I do feel for you, IMO Haldol is one of the nastiest drugs ever developed, truly a chemical straightjacket. It does clear out after a while but I recall that I was wheelchair-bound and unable to talk, eat, etc. after a dose was given. There are certainly better drugs and techniques to manage agitation out there, but at the same time, Haldol is a lead pipe cinch for doctors who have better things to do than talk down drunkards.


And yeah, disclaimer, I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV. And I'm not a lawyer either, so there.

 

[Nicholai]

There's no way they gave you 5mg of fentanyl. With no opioid tolerance, you'd be dead.

 

[Dickiesimkins]

There's no way they gave you 5mg of fentanyl. With no opioid tolerance, you'd be dead.

Why do you think I filed a lawsuit? That was what they admitted to giving me, they also gave me dalaudid after the versed that they have written down as prescribed but not administered. They had also given me ativan previously but did not document it. They were definitely trying to kill me. I did tell the cop he punched like a girl nearly every time he hit me though, he was really upset about being transferred to the west side and I kept making fun of him over it, I'm always a real wise ass especially once provoked. Nobody is claiming to remember anything at this point. They seriously underestimated my determination to hold them accountable. I definitely like the "it's on them to prove it wasn't noxious " I'm putting that in my reply to the answers for sure!

 

[Dickiesimkins]

There's no way they gave you 5mg of fentanyl. With no opioid tolerance, you'd be dead.

Sorry. Correction fentanyl 50mcg

 

[Coolwhip]

If they were trying to kill you I doubt they would have left a paper trail...maybe, if things are as you say, and the officer really was at risk of getting into big trouble(which knowing how cops protect their own I doubt), and if his Uncle did intervene in your treatment, then maybe they were just trying to keep you as pain free and comfortable as possible to reduce any animus towards his nephew. As unlikely as it is that he somehow recruited a group of doctors a nurses into some murder scheme, if they were going to make the argument that they needed to give you anesthetics to subdue you but in reality wanted you to die they would have given you propofol and not ketamine, and they would have continued to give you more opiates instead of antibiotics and antihistamines.

 

[sekio]

I kept making fun of him over it, I'm always a real wise ass especially once provoked.

As a foreigner, all I can say is I wouldn't ever want to provoke or talk back to an American cop, doubly so if you know they have a grudge against you, triply so if you are a minority of any sort (i.e. non-WASP). The US doesn't exactly have a track record of a police force free of abuse (see also: Rampart scandal, the cop who barged into someone's house and shot the occupants claiming that he thought he was in his own home, the other many cases of officer-involved violence with convenient "missing evidence", intimidated witnesses etc).

As unlikely as it is that he somehow recruited a group of doctors a nurses into some murder scheme, if they were going to make the argument that they needed to give you anesthetics to subdue you but in reality wanted you to die they would have given you propofol and not ketamine, and they would have continued to give you more opiates instead of antibiotics and antihistamines.

They actually do use propofol in cases of extreme aberrant behaviour, I'd imagine if you have someone on haldol chewing on their tongue, holding their breath until they pass out repeatedly, or struggling against restraints with all their will, or even just constant screaming or something, it becomes much more convenient to have the pt completely unconscious.

Maybe they were giving a bunch of student doctors a demonstration of the correct way to get sued for medical malpractice and lose beat a helpless DUI victim up properly demonstrate mystery drug cocktails treat excited delirium?

Also, I agree that if they were intending to kill you, none of that would be documented, and they'd probably stick to massive doses of narcotics or anesthetics, or if they're feeling particularly mean, a warfarin overdose or something. If you were trying to kill someone you wouldn't need to use Haldol nor ketamine. Also 50 mcg of fentanyl is a whopping 4mg morphine equivalent (0.05mg x 80), so about the same strength as a single Tylenol 3.

At best you could claim they were doing this to torment you instead, in that case, why bother with anything but the Haldol? Ketamine and fentanyl are too rewarding for someone who is being made to suffer. But as long as the doctors can point to you being noncompliant and possibly angry (being provably intoxicated doesn't help either), they do have grounds to sedate you, whether you like it or not.

Oh, also they could have done any number of things to kill you instead, from leaving you without treatment entirely, to "mistakenly" overdosing any number of things, prescribing some incorrect cardiac meds, straight up smothering you with a pillow in the ambulance, having the ambulance take a little spill off a cliffside with only you in it, etc.

 

[novaveritas]

On the contrary, I've never had to pay a cent for my hospital stays. And here they make an effort to get you out of the hospital, even if you've been sectioned to the mental health unit.

Eh, That's an old trick that has suckered you, the whole free at the point of care = free healthcare shtick, you pay about 4000 every single year out of your tax, a guessing you are a single and male, and you pay that every year if you visit the hospital or not. The funding shortfall in Canadian healthcare is 500bn CAD plus and the gap is being filled with magical money, created from thin air by your super progressive government, loonies. which is all good until it isn't


The onus is on the hospital here to prove that there was assesment of the patients ability or otherwise to give consent = capacity, or that the patient with capacity gave consent, or that the proper procedures were followed to the letter to assume consent due to impaired capacity or that there was implied consent because the patient was unconscious. BAL and cannabis being present does not prove incapacity. Haloperidol is not approved as a chemical cosh, so the doctor administering it took personal liability for the consequences for off label use.
I think the story told here is just a story and not the truth, otherwise NWNF lawyers would be all over it because it is a slam dunk.
The adverse effects of these drugs is a distraction from the main issue in the tort which is the psychological harm and emotional distress caused by treatment without consent of a patient with capacity. Keep it simple.

Medical treatment without consent is a minefield, people have the right to make dumbass decisions and die as a consequence,
even canadians.

 

[Coolwhip]

I pay $5500 dollars per year in insurance premiums with a $1000 deductible, have copays, and many things aren't covered. What a sucker he is for paying $4000 a year in taxes!(if he even has that much income) Not to even mention how much uncovered individuals are increasing the tax burden in the US.

And considering the total cost of the Canadian health care is about $150b, that $500b number you have sourced from a libertarian think tank is awfully misleading and makes it sound like the system is in crisis, which it is not.(how about you explain how they arrived at that number, assuming you even read the report, which I doubt you have) And even using numbers also sourced from the Fraser Institute(the same libertarian think tank mentioned before) the costs don't seem so bad, but you have to consider these numbers are not based on what Canadians actually pay, but what they could be if the cost of healthcare were divided among canadians in a ratio equal to their calculated tax burden.

Using data from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the study estimates that the average Canadian family (two parents, two children) with a household income of $138,008 will pay $12,935 for public health care this year, while a single individual (earning $44,348) can expect to pay $4,640.

The amount Canadian families pay for health care, of course, varies across the income spectrum. For example, the 10 per cent of Canadian families with the lowest incomes (earning $14,885 per household, on average) will pay $496...

That's 10.5% or less of your income, with no copays, no deductible, not being bankrupted by catastrophic care, and not an additional $100b being paid out by our governments to cover 85% of the cost of uncompensated care incurred by the uninsured. That actually sounds pretty fucking good to me. No matter how you want to do the math, all things accounted for, medical care costs you more in the US. Much more. In no small part because we don't have universal healthcare. I am not saying the Canadian system is perfect, or that they won't have problems they will have to overcome(what system doesn't?), but if you are going to make an argument against universal healthcare how about you examine its best examples instead of one of its worst examples(sorry, its true Canada, still better than the US though) as healthcare in Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland doesn't come with wait times, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and France has better outcomes, but they are ALL Universal because of the Progressive "loonie" governments and all cost less than the Canadian system.

But this isn't the place for it, so how about you keep your political bullshit to yourself.

They actually do use propofol in cases of extreme aberrant behaviour, I'd imagine if you have someone on haldol chewing on their tongue, holding their breath until they pass out repeatedly, or struggling against restraints with all their will, or even just constant screaming or something, it becomes much more convenient to have the pt completely unconscious.

That was my point, that they could still make the argument that is was necessary all while increasing the likelihood of death.

 

[Dickiesimkins]

If they were trying to kill you I doubt they would have left a paper trail...maybe, if things are as you say, and the officer really was at risk of getting into big trouble(which knowing how cops protect their own I doubt), and if his Uncle did intervene in your treatment, then maybe they were just trying to keep you as pain free and comfortable as possible to reduce any animus towards his nephew. As unlikely as it is that he somehow recruited a group of doctors a nurses into some murder scheme, if they were going to make the argument that they needed to give you anesthetics to subdue you but in reality wanted you to die they would have given you propofol and not ketamine, and they would have continued to give you more opiates instead of antibiotics and antihistamines.

After the first dose of dalaudid was given my restraints were removed and I folded up the iv in my left arm and laid on top of it. This is all very real, you're welcome to read the complaint filed in federal court if you like. Simply search my name and grandview hospital.

I came here because I had heard that there were knowledgeable people that frequented this forum that could help me figure out this drug cocktail. I really didn't come here to discuss the legal aspects of the case, I have those well in hand.


Is there anyone on this forum that actually has knowledge of drug drug interactions and the specific neuroscience involved or has the forum reduced itself to self important declarations wherein the persons that post here feel their opinions should be stated as facts?

Sekio, since you admit that you're making fun of me it is obvious that you have no store of intelligence from which to assert any knowledge in a helpful and meaningful contribution to this thread. I recognize this and will now ask you not to reply any longer unless you can shift your gears and stay on topic. Just because you were shot up with haldol and may have actually needed something to help you with your psychosis does not mean that I needed it. Check and see if the manufacturer recommends mixing haldol with fentanyl, versed, or ketamine; they certainly do not. Also check and you would find out that mixing alcohol with fentanyl, ativan ketamine and versed are all contraindications. Please stop making yourself out to be authoritative on a subject you seem to know very little about.

I think that the idea may have been not to kill me so much as to leave me with no recall of the event as well as mentally injured. There are many more layers to the story than are being told on this forum. After the drug cocktail was given I was also given a shot of dalaudid and then my restraints were removed because they couldn't have me die while being restrained, I immediately folded the arm with the iv and rolled over on top of it. The police did come back into the room and tell this doctor to give me more dalaudid because he wanted to watch me die. The doctor told him that they couldn't touch me without leaving bruises because of all the blood thinners that I had been given and that if I didn't die I would be a vegetable anyway.

Honestly anyone's opinion of the truth of my statements means very little unless you are the judge on the case. The judge obviously believes my case has merit or he would not have sent the Marshall's out to serve all 60 of the defendants, anyone is welcome to read the whole complaint, it's now public information. I'm not posting it here because I'm not asking for legal advice, I'm asking for drug knowledge, supposedly this website's function.

Back to the topic of the illegal drugging of my person please. If you have any opinion of any aspect of this story remember that the question is about the drugs, not the motives of the actors.

So anyone know about this particular drug cocktail and the neuroscience involved, or would you rather discuss Canadian healthcare and how violent American police are? I already know Canadian healthcare sucks, I also know that the police are violent. I'm happy that I could entertain your egos, but in reality the only help anyone will receive from this thread will be measured by the meaningful contribution to the topic, not arguing semantics of the backstory. Please remove off topic comments and questions from your replies because what you think you know about the occurrence is likely what you don't know about the occurrence.

Once again:
Drug drug interactions. Neuroscience. Anticholinergic cognitive burden scale. Half life of drugs once they had been mixed. CYP2D6 enzymes. Perhaps how these drugs affect the basil ganglia.
These drugs were given to me while I had an open skull fracture, this drug cocktail contains many components contraindicated to each other as well as head injury.
That is to say I would like to nail down what is known about the drugs before any other factors are considered. Is this something this community can help me with?

 

[Dickiesimkins]

If they were trying to kill you I doubt they would have left a paper trail...maybe, if things are as you say, and the officer really was at risk of getting into big trouble(which knowing how cops protect their own I doubt), and if his Uncle did intervene in your treatment, then maybe they were just trying to keep you as pain free and comfortable as possible to reduce any animus towards his nephew. As unlikely as it is that he somehow recruited a group of doctors a nurses into some murder scheme, if they were going to make the argument that they needed to give you anesthetics to subdue you but in reality wanted you to die they would have given you propofol and not ketamine, and they would have continued to give you more opiates instead of antibiotics and antihistamines.

Eh, That's an old trick that has suckered you, the whole free at the point of care = free healthcare shtick, you pay about 4000 every single year out of your tax, a guessing you are a single and male, and you pay that every year if you visit the hospital or not. The funding shortfall in Canadian healthcare is 500bn CAD plus and the gap is being filled with magical money, created from thin air by your super progressive government, loonies. which is all good until it isn't


The onus is on the hospital here to prove that there was assesment of the patients ability or otherwise to give consent = capacity, or that the patient with capacity gave consent, or that the proper procedures were followed to the letter to assume consent due to impaired capacity or that there was implied consent because the patient was unconscious. BAL and cannabis being present does not prove incapacity. Haloperidol is not approved as a chemical cosh, so the doctor administering it took personal liability for the consequences for off label use.
I think the story told here is just a story and not the truth, otherwise NWNF lawyers would be all over it because it is a slam dunk.
The adverse effects of these drugs is a distraction from the main issue in the tort which is the psychological harm and emotional distress caused by treatment without consent of a patient with capacity. Keep it simple.

Medical treatment without consent is a minefield, people have the right to make dumbass decisions and die as a consequence,
even canadians.

This reply almost makes me believe you read my complaint as it functions mostly on the premise of the IIED tort as well as the constitutional violations, the drug cocktails a sideline, but nevertheless an additional assault as I repeatedly refused all drugs. The fact was I was awake alert and oriented x3 and was noted several times on my medical chart.

I do like your replies and they actually make me feel as though my case is solid. If you research the cop involved you will find out he was implicated in a racist texting scandal a number of years ago. The other officers were fired, he was promoted. Sgt. Brian Lewis then killed a black man who was being restrained in the county jail by sitting on him until he suffocated. There was also a case recently settled where a restrained women was perper sprayed repeatedly. The county where I live is currently under DOJ investigation for inhumane treatment. The police internal affairs department has been attempting to get me to withdraw my complaint and last week I got an email from the "strategic planning bureau " stating that the investigation is now under investigation so they don't need to release the public records involved. I don't know if you have ever tried to sue the police before, but most lawyers wont even talk about it. I would like to know more about this drug cocktail, but at the end of the day the assault, which the forensics suggests was not substantiated during the crash, as well as the IIED, coupled with the bad medicine make this a home run. The only obstacle will be responding to all the answers in the allotted timeframes. Thanks for your replies, I do consider them to be thoughtful and valid, likely because they support my position but also because they are totally reasonable.

 

[Coolwhip]

You were given antibiotics(cefazolin), painkillers(opiates, fentanyl/hydromorphone), and muscle relaxants/sedatives/anxiolytics(benzos namely lorazepam/midazolam), and benadryl(antihistamine, possibly to counteract some of the side effects from other drugs, also can make you sleepy but this is minor compared to the benzos), and haloperidol(a neuroleptic and tranquilizer) and then ketamine(a very safe anaesthetic, but also completely numbs the body without causing loss of consciousness at low doses)

Everything listed there, save the haldol and ketamine, would be given for your own comfort caused from injury, the opiates and benzos are no big deal and most definitely would not have any lasting effects and are very standard. The haldol and ketamine would have been given to reduce agitation and aggressiveness.

That is a very powerful combination of drugs but other than risk of overdose, which can be mitigated by adjusting doses and observing the patient, there is no obvious reason not to mix any of the medications. I am not aware of any major enzyme inhibition that would occur. Since you didn't lose consciousness the entire time and stopped giving you opiates for a while after the initial doses, its hard to say the combination was dangerous from CNS depression.

Without the full account of your actions none of us here can judge whether the haldol and ketamine were necessary but from what you have said I think it is safe to assume there was some amount of hostility towards the doctors/nurses so they probably were and there is nothing immediately dangerous about haldol and ketamine, they most definitely wouldn't have killed you and it would have been common knowledge to the medical staff that they could only possibly cause anterograde amnesia and not make you forget what had already happened.

Most of the drugs administered would have a very short duration of effect, less than a night, the haldol would have you feeling the most out of sorts and unpleasant and also have the longest effects and half-life. For one, half-life is not the same as duration of effect, the haldol could have you feeling weird for a day or two after but assuming its a number on the high end of its half-life range and a linear elimination pattern you would have less than 1mg left in your body after 3 days. But half-life is an approximation of elimination time, in reality it is not linear. And after 3-4 days you would no longer have an active amount of drug left in your body. It could possibly take another day after its duration wore off or its elimination to return to equilibrium but after a single dose(or two does given in short succession) there would not be any risk of lasting negative effects.

It is much more likely any lasting effects you have suffered are a result of head injury.

I am not a lawyer, and neither is novaveritas, but it seems to me the case would be more about whether you had the right to refuse treatment or not and depending on your behavior(physical threat to yourself or others) and condition(competency, and you already admitted you had large amounts of drugs in your system which may have rendered you incompetent) you may not have had that right.

edit: But I will tell you, having been through something somewhat similar, as far as a "slam dunk" case, it has nothing to do with what happened, but what you can prove, and more importantly what people will say happened. And since it seems there would have needed to be a very large group of people involved in this who are all at risk of consequences, that is a lot of witnesses with a strong motivation to massage the truth, exaggerate certain aspects of it, and omit whatever they want. Believe me, I can tell you from experience, people have no problem committing perjury during a deposition probably because when they do there is rarely any consequences. So good luck with that.

And a tip, if you just want the advice strictly on pharmacology and neuroscience then you should just present the drugs consumed and the symptoms incurred and ask whatever questions you have and leave all your baggage at the door, or else you are inviting speculation and the derailing of your thread.

edit: typo, changed 10mg to 1mg...concerning amount of haldol left in system

 

[Hodor]

Also I have noted that injectable haldol has a half life of 21.5 days, so an overdose of it with the combination of other drugs would likely extend the halflife, but to what degree?

Injected haldol has a half-life of approx. 21 *hours*.
What you are thinking of is haldol decanoate, which is essentially a blob of fat that is injected into a muscle, gradually releasing the drug over the course of several weeks. This, however, is not the one they administer intravenously.

Sekio is right, the meds you received were pretty much the ideal cocktail for achieving maximum pain relief and sedation without major respiratory depression. In all likelihood, you were drunk, high and concussed, as well as acting belligerently, not to mention there being a very real risk of you dying from your freaking skull fracture unless you received immediate medical attention. The chances of you successfully suing the doctors are pretty much 0, and rightly so.

 

[Coolwhip]

anyone is welcome to read the whole complaint, it's now public information

I would actually like to read the complaint, could you provide a link? I promise I won't give any legal advice or contribute to this thread in any way outside of pharmacologic discussion.