These medications transform a combative, difficult person into a sedate, model patient.
The report says drugs were used to sedate troublesome patients.
The decision whether to sedate a patient at the end of life is difficult and involves many factors.
Certain drugs are given to sedate the patient and may be combined with treatment for pain and agitation.
No doctor prescribes these drugs because they want to sedate demented patients.
It also is used to sedate patients before and during general anesthesia.
After more than a week of negotiating, a decision was finally made to sedate the patient with morphine and turn off his respirator.
The decision whether to sedate a patient at the end of life is a difficult one.
The need to use drugs that sedate the patient is evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals.
An anesthesiologist may be necessary to help sedate and immobilize young patients.