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Showing posts from March, 2010

If you can't trust Dr. Koczapski who can you trust?

Originally published on March 14th, 2010. For an update see the end of the post. This is the true story of a young woman currently in the Concurrent Care Unit of Vancouver General Hospital. She's twenty two years old, and could be the sister or daughter of anyone on this list. Tonight she will not be going home to her mother. Instead she is in a seclusion room in the Unit, having been involuntarily sedated. Confidentiality concerns prevent me from mentioning her name, however I am able to mention her doctor's name. Dr. Koczapski ordered her involuntary sedation. Now, a quick word about seclusion wards and sedation. A seclusion room is a room containing a mattress and nothing else. It has a small window for the staff to inspect the occupant. It is, within the corrections world, the equivalent of 'Solitary Confinement'. The patient may be let out at certain times at the discretion of a nurse. Involuntary sedation is a questionable practice at best. There are strict