Tag: Multi-Drug-Intoxication

NO MORE BS: Multi-Drug Intoxication and George Floyd – Speedballing

WebMD.com details specifically what multi-drug intoxication is, and a portion of the definition is quoted below:

“Combined drug intoxication (CDI) occurs when two or more substances are taken simultaneously and can result in serious life-threatening conditions, including death.  While some medications can be safely taken together, combined drug intoxication happens when the toxicity of two or more substances negatively affects the body.”

Knowledge Check!Multiple drug intoxication can occur accidentally and purposefully to counteract the adverse effects of one drug by including another drug, for example, extending a Heroin high through adding Cocaine.  First responders, including police, paramedics, and others, stand on the front-line of a chemistry experiment gone wrong and never know until blood toxicology reports are returned what they are walking into.  Not excusing unprofessional behavior from those responding; but, I am placing blame upon those choosing to inject, smoke, snort, or pop the pills.  The professionals on the front-line deserve the benefit of the doubt, especially when multi-drug intoxication is suspected.

Thin Blue LineDirect from the trial records, covered by the New York Post reporters, we find the following in a second search of the vehicles involved in the George Floyd legal trial.

“Forensics investigators found two pills in the center console of the Benz that proved to be methamphetamine and Fentanyl, Anderson said.  Also found in the vehicle was a pipe with traces of THC and packets of Suboxone, a drug used by patients addicted to opioids.”

For those uneducated in street drug terms, speedballing is covered in a publicly available PowerPoint put together by the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and JBS International.  I encourage you to review this PowerPoint, as it explicitly details what happens to the human body when multiple drugs are consumed, including meth and Fentanyl.  Knowing truly is half the battle as G. I. Joe proclaimed all through the 1980s.Millstone of Designed Incompetence

I make no accusations, but I find that Politifact.com used other media sources to debunk a Facebook claim instead of actual documents, revealing and embarrassing to all media outlets.  Long have I searched for and wanted to read the toxicology report from the George Floyd Autopsy.  Again, I am not a medical professional nor a chemist, and I use publicly available tools to investigate.  The George Floyd Toxicology report clearly states the following were present in George Floyd’s body on his day of death:

      • Caffeine – Positive
      • Cotinine – Positive
      • 4-ANPP – 0.65ng/ml
      • 11-Hydroxy Delta-99 THC – 1.2ng/ml
      • Delta-9 Carboxy THC – 42ng/ml
      • Delta-9 THC – 2.9ng/ml
      • Methamphetamine – 19ng/ml
      • Fentanyl – 11ng/ml
      • NorFentanyl – 5.6ng/ml
      • Cannabinoids – Presumed Positive
      • Fentanyl/Metabolite – Presumed Positive
      • Morphine – Free – 86ng/ml

Detective 4The “Reference Comments” at the bottom of the toxicology report is very revealing.  When he chose to attack police and resist arrest, George Floyd was a walking timebomb of chemicals.  We have nicotine from tobacco use, NoDoz, THC from smoking marijuana, plus the strong suspicion of a speedball containing meth and Fentanyl, among other chemical substances.  Consider this for a moment; the Florida PowerPoint states that Fentanyl and Meth would act as a “push/pull” on the brain and body.

Abusing two or more drugs simultaneously increases adverse side effects and increases health risks.  Negative side effects could include all or some of the following:

      • Anxiety
      • High Blood Pressure
      • Strong or Irregular Heartbeat
      • Suppressed Breathing Abilities
      • General Confusion
      • Incoherence
      • Blurred Vision
      • Stupor, Drowsiness
      • Paranoia
      • Mental Impairment
      • Uncoordinated Motor Skills
      • Death from Stroke
      • Death from Heart Attack
      • Death from Aneurysm
      • Death from Respiratory Failure
      • Death from a rapid change in Heartbeat pace from Depressed to Overspeed
      • Death from Cardiac Arrhythmias

Knowledge Check!Important to consider, when depressants and stimulants are mixed, the combination of lethality is challenging to judge, and fatal overdoses occur from misjudging the amounts of drugs being consumed.  Because no one is reporting how long George Floyd was speedballing, or if he was speedballing, we could not judge the severity of cognitive, physical, and psychological effects from these drugs being used/abused.  Unless it was never reported, George Floyd’s family has never been asked about his behavior when sober or on this multi-drug cocktail; I have found zero records investigating George Floyd.  These records could still be in the defense lawyer’s hands due to the coming defense of Derek Chauvin in appeals court.

Question 2Regardless, America has two problems represented in the George Floyd case.  Neither problem involves how police do their jobs, and everything to do with the media and Hollywood representing drug use as popular and risk-free, and the continued drug problems America has been facing since the 1960s explosion of illicit drugs.  Illegal and illicit drug use is fueled by social acceptance, which Hollywood and the media empower.  The statistics from 2020 and the COVID-Farrago are still being calculated and gathered.  However, the preliminary numbers show increased alcohol and drug use up significantly during the lockdowns, reflecting the second method that increases illegal drug use and abuse, government intrusion, and restrictions.

When the press goes above and beyond to punish the police and honor and glorify a criminal, criminal activity increases due to media protection and the desired payday through the judicial process.  How much money has the family of George Floyd been able to gather? Just from the city, we find a payday of $27Million!  Those are tax dollars being paid for political purposes, and the taxpayers in Minneapolis, especially after all the terrorism, should be just as mad as the rest of the country.  Why was the payday made, the media!  Why the rush to pay off the family, the press!

Wasting TimeThe media fact-checked using their echo chambers, quoted each other instead of asking real questions and obtaining real answers, and the politicians caved like a cheap suit!  Take a minute and read the different stories from the George Floyd incident or any other major media circus.  You will find the echo chambers, the faux emotional investing, the pandering to audience emotional investment, and the media trying to be judge, jury, and executioner long before all the facts of an incident are known.  I have heard others describe the media circus as “stage-managed” with copied talking points, locked-in themes, and punishment for everyone who doesn’t toe the line the media is managing.

I will never say someone has to be perfect all the time.  Mistakes happen!  How those mistakes are handled defines the professionalism of the parties involved.  The media make things worse, and while I will not see the press muzzled, I consider their unethical, immoral, and borderline illegal behavior to be reprehensible and worthy of judicial punishment until behavior improves!  The media is a part of the problem, Hollywood is part of the problem, and both parties feed off each other to the detriment of American society.Never Give Up!

Yet, let’s discuss the 800# Gorilla in the room openly.  Drug use is climbing; when drug use climbs, drug abuse follows like moonlight to sunlight.  Worse, when drug use increases, social problems increase dynamically, families are destroyed, and the drugs usually make friendly people into beasts capable of eating another person’s face.  Lest you think the 2012 and 2013 incidents were singular, “… a stun gun and K-9 dog were initially unable to stop [the suspect] from continuing to attempt to eat the victim. Four deputies eventually pried [the suspect] off and arrested him. … [the suspect], a former high school football defensive lineman and wrestler, may have been on hallucinogenic drugs when he attacked.”  “A former teammate told The Palm Beach Post that coaches were frustrated with [the suspects] aggression, even at 6-feet tall and 200 pounds. “The coaches would always try to get him mad and play angry, and he never had it in him. I didn’t think he would hurt a fly.”

Knowledge Check!America, we need solutions to the drug problems in our country.  We need to find and develop new solutions to this age-old problem.  Worse, we need the politicians to stop throwing money at problems and start looking for solutions that will work.  Let us begin to look at drug addiction, use, and abuse, which includes all drugs and alcohol, where those addicted can receive support in breaking the habit but are still held accountable for the problems their drug use/abuse caused.  I am interested in hearing your thoughts on fixing the drug use/abuse problems; I know I do not have all the answers.

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

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NO MORE BS: Caution! Dangerous Waters Ahead!

Bird of PreyTwo events this week present a need for lovers of freedom to be very aware of what is happening in the halls of the capitols of America.  In the first event, we passed the ignominious first anniversary of the death of a criminal.  The second is the continued stress and strain to maximize what has been dubbed “The Capitol Riot.”  In both events, we see plastic words thrown about like seeds ready for planting, and we see how the media continues to fan flames of Trump Derangement Syndrome to the dismay and disaffection of all.

Frankly, I detest being reminded of George Floyd; I have had my fill of the riots, the terrorism, the media, the politics, and the defamation of the police over this incident.  Hero or criminal Derek Chauvin and his family have been sundered by overzealous media reporters.  Hero or criminal George Floyd and the arrest have been so twisted, manipulated, and politicized that the truth has become the only real casualty in this entire debacle.  Several facts remain, stuck like gum on the underside of a school desk.

      1. George Floyd had a heart condition. The severity remains wrapped in medical and legal jargon so deep it would take an army of doctors and lawyers to decipher.
      2. George Floyd had several different drugs in his system when he died, including Fentanyl. In case you have been living under a rock, Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that carries the following warning, “High risk for addiction and dependence. Can cause respiratory distress and death when taken in high doses or when combined with other substances, especially alcohol.”Thin Blue Line

Is that warning pretty clear?  Mixing Fentanyl with any other drug runs the risk of exasperating current health conditions, such as a heart condition.  Mixing Fentanyl into a drug cocktail runs the risk of a multi-drug intoxication, and as the VA has proved, multi-drug intoxication can take harmless drugs and vitamins and kill!  Fentanyl and Methamphetamines were found in George Floyd’s blood during the autopsy, producing the probability of a multi-drug intoxication.  Between the politics, the terrorists masquerading under the media’s protection as peaceful protestors, and the chutzpah of the judge, Derek Chauvin, and his family have been ostracized and attacked mercilessly.  George Floyd passed counterfeit money, had illegal drugs in his system, had a heart condition that he might or might not have been aware of, and the stress of fighting police killed George Floyd.Dont Tread On Me

The fact that the media refuses to name any of these facts announces in terms unrepentant how biased and deadly the media considers themselves to be.  The press continues to spout lies. Every time the media opens its collective mouth, the disregard for their heritage and position in this Free Republic is shunned and denied for personal gain!  The media deserves to be held complicit in lighting the fires of terrorism that so many cities have suffered.  Justice needs to be served cold and raw to the corporate media!

        1. Toxicity levels of Fentanyl depend upon body mass, amounts taken, other drugs or alcohol present, and when those drugs were consumed. The experts vociferously disagree on the toxicity levels in George Floyd’s body at the time of death.  Everything discussed in court regarding toxicity levels is hyperbole and a personal opinion from paid professional witnesses.  Do not allow the details to mask the facts, or the media will lead you around by the nose!
        2. As discussed previously, the holds the police chose were legal and acceptable until the corporate media went ballistic and needed an excuse to blame the police for the death of a man passing counterfeit money and using illicit drugs. Who when approached by police for questioning, began to fight the police.  How can a person conclude that Fentanyl was illegal?  Not a single doctor has come forward claiming they prescribed the Fentanyl for a medical condition.  How and where did George Floyd obtain the Fentanyl?Why

So, celebrate George Floyd if you choose.  That is your decision.  I support your decision to make your own choices, and may you enjoy the consequences as you prefer.  But, I weep for Derek Chauvin, who became a political sacrifice for the rabid media and politicians who needed a scapegoat.  Should George Floyd be alive today and standing trial for passing counterfeit money and possessing illegal drugs: yes, except he chose to fight the police.  George Floyd chose to place dangerous drugs in his system.  George Floyd did not care about his health before engaging with the police in combat; why should I care about George Floyd’s death?

Knowledge Check!My concerns are for the living, the innocent, and those left to clean up this mess, which has been exploited by, and exasperated by both politicians and the media to the Nth degree.  I am not indifferent to the suffering of George Floyd’s family, but wasn’t his family already suffering from his choices?  For the record, I am sorry he is dead; yet his death does not, in any way, shape, or form, justify the damage and terrorism that the United States has witnessed in his name!  I am sorry George Floyd died while in police custody, but his choices came with consequences.  Unfortunately, those consequences have now included so many others; the damage is beyond count.

Why is the George Floyd case so dangerous?

The media has taken a deplorable incident and turned it into a terrorist-feeding frenzy, where justice is robbed, mercy is denied, and innocent victims are destroyed mercilessly as “collateral damage.”  Private property destroyed!  Public property and businesses put to the torch—employees beaten to satisfy the appetite of the terrorists, all for the media to revel and parade.  Consider this pattern, for it has been being developed over incident after incident until it is a money-spinning machine.  Play the race card, use the continuously aggrieved populations in society to whip up emotions, and turn them loose for the cameras.  Then report how the problems are always someone else’s fault, and how more money needs poured into social programs, then lie and half-truth through every event to keep the machine spinning money!Plato 3

Ask the media, when will they be reporting on the criminals who looted stores before burning them to the ground?  Will these criminals get the same 24/7 media-feeding frenzy and biased judge and jury?  Will the employee victims ever see compensation and justice?

The Capitol Riot

In making the following statements, I am not in any way denigrating the losses on 9/11; nor, am I belittling the actual loss of life during the Capitol Charade being called a “Riot.”  Any time lives are lost, there should be repercussions for those taking lives, investigations, and all the facts revealed.  However, any lawmaker who attempts to equalize the 9/11 terrorist attacks with a staged riot on the Capitol is denigrating, deriding, and insulting the memories of lives lost!  Unfortunately, the politicians are trying to make political hay on the Capitol Riot, making me sick!

Plato 2I watched the capitol disturbance live and in color.  I have seen the video footage of law officers guiding people into the proper rooms. I have witnessed the debacle from end to end. While I am not an expert, the entire episode reminds me of Kabuki Theater, not a spontaneous attack on the Capitol.  While I decry the damage done, I think those attempting to steal were idiots. I fully support law and order conducting a full investigation, including where the buses came from and who bankrolled the Kabuki Theater being passed off as the Capitol Riot.

Yet, let us be clear, from the day of the Capitol Kabuki farrago to today, the politicians have continued to attempt to steal liberty and freedom, using the pattern established from 9/11 and the excuse of safety for the politicians.  Let me remind you, you serve the people; since you have chosen to live like feudal lords over the serfs, you have broken the promise and oath of your office, and you and your staff need to be fired from public service!

Knowledge Check!The Patriot Act has been the single most freedom-sucking bureaucratic life support measure, only surpassed by ObamaCare in my lifetime, coming in third to the United Nations debacle!  Enough is enough!  Hiding behind police officers while destroying America is not appreciated by those who live here, and politicians need to be held accountable with their staff.  Continue to make excuses, hide, and refuse to represent us, and the ballot box is waiting!  The media is like a snake, soon they will bite you, and I hope they bite hard; think Nagini and Mr. Weasley from the fifth Harry Potter book.

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Weep America! – The VA Leadership is Becoming Worse! – Part 2

Angry Wet ChickenOne of the first rules in overseeing junior people working is to make available someone to answer questions, immediately, and render support if needed.  I have had the pleasure of training junior people in a myriad of tasks over the years.  When I read this Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) report, a plethora of questions arise, and I deeply question the professionalism and competence of the doctor overseeing the work of residents in a VA Hospital who are performing procedures.

  • Ophthalmology Resident Supervision – Important to note, the patient did not experience any long-term loss of sight over this issue. Congratulations to the resident and the other ophthalmology doctors present!  From the VA-OIG report we find the following:

“… The subject ophthalmologist failed to provide adequate resident supervision and entered inaccurate documentation related to supervision for a single patient case.”  Essentially, the doctor charged with overseeing residents was AWOL, and then compounded his error by falsifying patient records.  The VA-OIG report continues by claiming this falsification was the result of an oversight when using pre-recorded notes for patient files.

Draw your own conclusions.  Personally, I think this doctor needs to be released of all duties where overseeing residents is concerned.  I would also question his ethics and morals for falsifying patient records.  You hold a double position of trust, first as a doctor, second as a teacher and leader of residents, and the behavior witnessed should come with steep repercussions professionally!VA 3

Knowledge Check!On the topic of professional duties, and steep repercussions, drug interactions killed a veteran at the Marion VAMC in Illinois.  Before launching into the VA-OIG’s report, please allow me a moment of your attention.  Drug interactions can arise due to vitamin usage, over-the-counter medications, and from illegal and legal but illicit drug use.  Often, I have claimed that people are walking chemistry experiments, and even vaccines need to be carefully evaluated for drug interaction potential.  Foods can cause drug interactions due to the chemicals in the food.  Drug interactions are a growing problem and every medical professional I have spoken to admits drug interactions are becoming worse by the day.  I do not say this lightly, but I do not hold the medical professionals as fully competent in fighting the drug interaction problem due to the amount of chemicals the average person interacts with daily.  The problem is Big-Parma and the continual push towards more specialized medicines, we are going to see more drug interaction issues.  Unfortunately, drug interaction issues come with the risk of death!

From the VA-OIG report we find the following:

“The VA-OIG substantiated that high cholesterol contributed to the patient’s death; however, the death certificate indicated that the primary cause of death was accidental acute multi-drug intoxication. The psychiatrist and staff failed to document providing the patient with education during a telephone encounter regarding potential side effects or adverse drug-drug interactions of medication changes. Contrary to clinical guidance, the psychiatrist prescribed long-term benzodiazepine use for a patient diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. The psychiatrist also failed to address the patient’s two negative urine drug screens for a prescribed medication and failed to address a positive urine drug screen for cannabis. Due to COVID-19, the facility failed to launch the Psychotropic Drug Safety Initiative Phase Four Plan. The primary care provider did not comply with facility policy by failing to enter a return-to-clinic order following an appointment but could not determine if this affected the patient. Primary care and behavioral health staff did not comply with facility policy to telephone the patient or send a letter after the patient missed appointments” [emphasis mine].

The lack of staff to follow procedures and do their job, I will certainly hold them accountable for, especially since Cannabis is involved!  Please do not believe that Cannabis is a non-toxic drug, especially when mixed with other drugs, it can be the fatal trigger in a multi-drug intoxication!VA 3

At 18, low those many years ago, I took the EMT-Basic class, but left for US Army Basic Training before I could certify.  Since then, I have received certification as a combat medic and a Journeyman Firefighter (Any industry) which required a lot of hours studying emergency medicine.  I am experienced in drawing blood, starting IVs in difficult circumstances, and handling a myriad of injuries.  I am not a medical professional by any stretch of the imagination, I simply have a healthy desire to learn, and emergency medicine is a fascinating topic I regularly pursue.  I am not a chemist; I rely upon peer reviewed resources and legal and medical websites to stay current on a host of topics.  With this as my qualifier I am going to make several statements and you can judge their merit.  Feel free to comment.

      1. The first rule of medicine is document everything! My first lesson, first day of EMT training, this point was driven home.  If you do not write it down, it never happened!  Yet, what does the VA-OIG find time after time in reviewing cases at the VHA, lack of documentation of steps taken!  Can you say, “Asinine and abysmal behavior by credentialed professionals?” I know I can!
      2. Aspirin and Alcohol can cause a drug interaction that can be deadly. Both chemicals are readily available in the home and over the counter.  Why is spray paint now requiring proper ID, because people are huffing the stuff and getting a multi-drug intoxication.  Oven cleaner and spray pain can cause serious breathing issues and when mixed together can cause a cheap high, as well as a multi-chemical intoxication leading to breathing paralysis and death!
      3. Cannabis continues to be modified, changed, enhanced, and designed to trigger different chemical reactions in the body. Continuing work that began in earnest in the 1960s for the pot-smokers who wanted a more serious high.  Guess what, cannabis and aspirin along with vitamins can cause multi-drug intoxication problems leading to death!
      4. Vitamin D and Vitamin C have both caused serious drug intoxications during COVID-19. People became frightened and took too many of both or just one and wound up in the ER with life-threatening health problems from toxicity of these vitamins.  India has reported a spike in black mould that has caused serious long-term health problems for diabetics after recovering from COVID.  It is currently presumed that the chemicals used to fight COVID allowed for a natural mould to grow in the body, and that became life-threatening.

The VA-OIG conducted another virtual comprehensive healthcare inspection, and found the same problems continue at another VAMC.  Do you know how tired I am of reading these “comprehensive inspection” results and finding the same problems time after time?  When will the VA actually start enforcing some of these VA-OIG recommendations to effect change?  Better, when will the politicians who are charged with scrutinizing the government tire of seeing the same recommendations and not seeing any change?  Bloody frustrating reading these reports and not seeing improvement!VA 3

Broken RobotFinally, we come to what I was hoping to be a great report, where the politician’s heads were going to explode at the inefficiencies, the detestable behavior, and the horrendous responses to legally mandated IT infrastructure changes, and why those changes are not happening at the VA.  I was not disappointed; I was thoroughly disgusted that his report fell on plastic ears speaking plastic words from wax lips!  Statement of Michael Bowman, Office of Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs, Director of IT and Security Audits Division, Before the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, Hearing on Cybersecurity and Risk Management at VA: Addressing Ongoing Challenges and Moving Forward May 20, 2021.  Notice something, the failures at the VA in the IT Department are being called “ongoing challenges.”

Millstone of Designed IncompetenceLet me remind you, FISMA was released on 29 April 2021, and I wrote about the abysmal findings of the VA-OIG.  This report is the accountability statement to the Congressional representatives who should have skewered this bureaucrat and roasted him on a spit with onions and peppers, then served him up for public ridicule after firing him!  For the Director of IT and Security Audits Division to make the following statement is flat out beyond comprehension, “The OIG’s conclusions in the FY 2020 FISMA audit are not new or revelatory—rather, they repeat many of the same concerns with VA’s IT security that the OIG has found for many years.”  What incredible chutzpah to make this comment after that scathing report showed just how deplorable the leadership of the IT and Security Audits Division revealed!  Director Bowman then goes on to downplay the band-aid solutions implemented while decrying the time for improvement is too short and there is not enough money.  Do not forget, “Of the 26 recommendations, 21 have been included in every FISMA audit dating back to at least 2017.”  With at least 15 of these recommendations dating back even further.  Want a full list, as well as how old these recommendations are; you will not find it in the Director’s report to Congress!  Is anybody incensed enough to demand a full accounting of just how old these IT recommendations are?

Detective 4The gall of this director to continue to blame legacy systems that were legislated to have been scrapped between 2000 and 2010 continues to highlight the incompetence of the director in conducting business and holding people accountable for failed projects and overspending of taxpayer monies!  The director went further and stated the following, at which time, every single Congressional Representative should have stood and demanded his head.  The “VA does not properly manage and secure their IT investments.”  Tell me director, why should you remain employed if the VA does not properly manage and secure their IT investments?  Is the failure to manage and secure IT investments the root cause for veterans to continue to suffer identity theft from the VA losing their identity?

The director’s next statement puts his other outrageous comments to sleep.  “Security failures also undermine the trust veterans put in VA to protect their sensitive information and can affect their engagement with programs and services” [emphasis mine].  Talk about such an obvious statement, it’s like the sun coming up on a cloudy day, you just cannot miss that sun rise; you also cannot miss the absurdity of making this statement!  Did some intern write his speech?  You are the director of IT Security and you make this type of comment, did you make this comment with a straight face?  I cannot find the video-record of this Congressional hearing so I can only guess he delivered his lines with a straight face!  Most detestable of all, he continued to make outrageous comments, his plan to move the IT security program at the VA forward is weak, lacking firm deadlines, and continues to allow him and his staff to escape accountability and responsibility.VA 3

Angry Grizzly BearAmerica, with these bureaucrats in charge, why shouldn’t we be weeping and wailing, and gnashing our teeth in frustration?  When will we, the owners of this atrocious government, finally scream ENOUGH and demand a full change of heads at the ballot box?  For until the elected representatives are forced out, the bureaucrats abusing us, will only continue!  The VA is sick, but the problem lies in the bureaucrats, administrators, and directors leading the VA at the Federal and VISN levels.  So many other government agencies are just as sick, or worse, and the same problem arises, the leadership refuses to act, but still expects a big titanium parachute when they leave office!  I say it is time to tell them NO!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.