I consider it an act of violence.

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I went for a steroid injection last Wednesday, which appears to be a common treatment for sciatica. They told me that I would only need a local anesthetic, and that this is their standard procedure.

I talked to the anesthesiologist and two nurses on the way in. I’ve had bad experiences before with anesthesia and I need much less than you’d normally give. They assured again that I would only need a local anesthetic. I don't know how I could have made it more clear.
I didn’t think to ask why I needed an I.V. and just figured there must be a reason.

When we got there, because my leg hurt so much, I had trouble finding a comfortable position on their skinny table. The last thing I remember was trying to decide whether another pillow under my stomach would help. I didn’t get the chance to ask.

The next thing I knew, I was in recovery. The first nurse I talked to said they had to knock me out because I was “jumping around.”

First of all, that was a flat-out lie. They just didn’t want to wait the extra minute or two for me to find an acceptable position.
Second, even if it were true, that’s no excuse. They could have asked. This wasn’t a situation where I was unable to speak for myself, and a life-saving decision needed to be made. This was a case of me being fully awake and capable of deciding, and the attack was NOT for my benefit at all, but for their momentary convenience.
The worst thing that could have happened would have been cancelling the procedure.

Looking back, I didn’t really get a good feeling from the anesthesiologist when I talked to her before the procedure. I now wonder whether she dismissed me then and there, pegged me as some kind of trouble-maker, and went into the procedure with the intention of knocking me out. In other words, I wonder whether this attack was pre-meditated.

I’m thinking about writing to my doctor about this. I don’t know what he can do, except maybe next time send me to a better facility.

I just hate the whole medical community. I see the way they treat the elderly, and I’m scared to death of ending up in a nursing home. Please shoot me first. When people say that, they’re not kidding. Being dead would be far better than being permanently under the power of these nut-jobs, with no hope of ever escaping.

I certainly will never let anyone stick me with an I.V. again. It’s like having an “off” button that anyone can control EXCEPT you.

Please feel free to play devil’s advocate. I would like to understand why people think it’s ok to do things like this.

Probably.
They probably did think, "What's the big deal, it's just a shot?"
"Fine, shut him off, give him the steroid shot, now he didn't have any probs with getting a pain shot or the steroid shot."

It probably cost them extra to do that, and it even could be possible that they thought, with your 'distress' it'd be easier for you and may even have done it as a "favor" to you, like pulling a bandaid off real quick just as you look away.

Those of us on the spectrum are pretty damn good at misunderstanding NTs and even better at righteous indignation over technicalities.

They better not think they can charge me extra for that. And no, I was not in any “distress” and the attack was not for my benefit.

People like that are just pigs. I don’t know what I could have done to make my wishes more clear. The fact that they snuck it in without my knowledge says that they already knew that I didn’t want it.

I don’t know what this means. Please expand. What am I misunderstanding?

I would like to understand why people think it’s acceptable to do things like this. The best I can figure is that they’re just power-hungry pigs (like cops) who get off on abusing their positions. And that still doesn’t make sense to me.

Would it do any good to send a letter (roughly the same as my original post) to my referring doctor? Would he even understand my complaint? Or would he just dismiss me like the others did? I’m in a which-part-don’t-you-get mode. What should I change?

Thanks for playing devil’s advocate.

I'd keep it brief: 'Next time I expect to be asked in advance.'

Being brief is a way of not showing all your cards. Understating the case also seems to make for effective activism. I mean it's hard to argue with 'expect to be asked in advance.'

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As far as why they did it, my guess is that once they define a person as a 'difficult patient,' for a variety of sloppy and lazy reasons, they then use that as a way to justify what is easiest for them.

In a similar way, in the Star Trek movie Insurrection, at first they were going to be 'decent' about forcibly locating the people, the people fought back, and they then basically said the hell with it, kill them if necessary. Not exactly the best of human nature, this disrespect as soon as things turn difficult. (PS I often reason from analogy.)

Analogies work for me, too.

And if that's the way it is, then I've been correct all along in having no trust or respect for "authority." They're all just pigs, and there was nothing I could have done. How do people live in such a sick world? How do the pigs live with themselves?

If possible, I'd get this in a letter on physician's letterhead. Presenting it in written form increases the chance that it will be taken seriously, as it should be.

And yes, you did make a mistake. You showed up alone.

From the Donnie Brasco book, I took the lesson that in a mob sit down, no matter how good the mobster, he doesn't just show up by himself. He brings his most trusted, longest standing lieutenants.

And I remember one young woman in her twenties sharing with our informal humanist brunch group that she had gone to the police station to report a violent ex-boyfriend violating a restraining order. And the female police officer literally said something like, well, you picked him. Wow. Even in this day and age. With all the supposed training on issues of domestic violence. Well, yes. When you catch them lazy and sloppy, it's viewed as just more case load. But . . . if this same young lady had gone to the police station with her mother or father or her sister, it helps for it to be an older person (shouldn't be that way, but probably is). Then the police officer would not have dreamed of saying something like this, or if she had, she would have quickly backtracked and apologized. And in general, the police officer would have done a very professional, courtesy, straightforward job of taking the report and passing it forward for the next step.

Now, at times, I have not had a single friend or family member I could depend on. And that is a lonely feeling.

But if you can have a friend or family member go with you and be your matter-of-fact advocate, probably change the whole dynamic.

Or, imagine if we had Houston Autism Network, which we currently do not have . . . and if I needed a medical procedure. And an advocate came with me, and the advocate says, you don't need to speak slow, but if you can please just briefly explain every step of the procedure. They really should be doing this with every patient anyway. The medical professional would probably thrown a little bit off, but I think it would increase the odds that it would be courteous and professional throughout.

PS Is sciatica a type of pain from where nerve radiates from lower spine?

You're right.
I've even given that kind of advice myself, though in different contexts. It's one of those lessons that I need to learn over and over and over.

And yes, I did send a letter to the orthopedic doctor who referred me, with a cc to the main doctor in the pain management facility. Presumably, he was the one who actually did the procedure, although I don't remember seeing him that day. That's a little creepy, too. But I'm not good enough at faces to be sure.

Yes, the sciatic nerve runs through the spine and down the leg and, when it gets pinched, it causes pain or numbness.

Well, you wouldnt think you'd need someone there with you as a patient advocate for something as seemingly simple as a local anesthetic and a steroid injection.

But if they're in the habit of slam dunking patients, yeah, I suppose you do.

The reason they put the IV in in the first place was in case you had a serious reaction to the local or the steroid and they needed to give you life saving meds right then. It's common and doesn't mean they are planing to knock you out.

I don't know why they would have given you the shot without your consent, unless they really thought it wouldn't bother you to have it. I'd talk to the Dr who gave it to you and ask him why he did it and tell him that you had a bad experience from it. I'd also report it to the hospital's mortality and morbidity board. They review cases like this.

I do disagree that it was an act of violence. It was certainly misguided and misunderstood, and possibly even for their own convenience, but it wasn't violent. I'm sure in the release you signed for it, somewhere in there was something saying that they might need to do additional things, including knocking you out, intubating, etc, during the course of it.

It's possible you gave them permission if you signed a consent form. Read those things very carefully.

It's possible they felt knocking you out might be best so they could get the shot exactly where needed. If you are moving around a lot, it could go in the wrong place. That shot needs to be in the muscle, if I'm not mistaken. Since it's in your leg, it could have been an awkward position.

Ethically, there is nothing wrong with what happened. They did this for your comfort, although the nurse probably used the wrong words. Next time, I would tell them to tell you right when they are giving anything else. As in "Hey, Tahitiii, we are giving you something to put you to sleep so we can give you the shot". They actually might have told you, but it probably affected your memory. Hell, you might have said "Oh, OK, that's fine" and completely don't remember. It's a common side effect of the anesthesia.

Truthfully, they probably didn't give you enough to fully knock you out. They probably gave you such a tiny amount that it made you sleepy, and then you fell asleep.

If you feel very uncomfortable, you can file a grievance. I don't want to invalidate you, as I wasn't there. You have rights and this is one of them.

I've heard several anesthesiologists say some form of this quote: "The best patient is one who isn't awake."

Argh I feel your pain! And if that is what happened (you will sadly never know for sure) then it was an act of violence in my opinion too. I sometimes wish I could record what is said.

I'd love to be someone who can give the medical professionals the benefit of the doubt, despite what I remember happening, but I have experience of them just doing things because "thats what we do", and not listening to extremely important thing- like when you told them you have a sensitivity to anesthetics (I have the same thing with local anesthetic). They don't want to entertain the idea that a patient might be correct- that someone might have more knowledge about THEIR OWN bodies than they do.

I would write a letter, and make it as official-looking as possible. Search online to see if there are any examples of complaints letters sent when someone believes they did not give their consent?

I have actually made an appointment to look through my medical records on tuesday- I do not trust my docs and want to go through it to see what they write about my situation, and how they write notes when I say I have something, and they say "no its not that" without investigation. Are they even recording what I say?. I would bet anything there are some horrendous mistakes in there! They will just think I want to get money from suing them :/ I just want to be taken seriously when I tell them I am not happy with my care. At least my operation last week confirmed what I had been telling them I had for 10 years, so I feel like this is the right time to confront them. I told the nurse that I was worried about them editing the file, and she seemed surprised when i didnt seem instantly relieved when she said "oooh that couldnt happen. its illegal". I know it happens in the NHS- my friend works as a lawyer for a company dealing with medical compensation claims, and many of them have been proven to have some patient notes mysteriously missing. They will just think I am paranoid though!

I did, within a few days. It was a dressed-up version of my OP, above. I sent it to the orthopedic doctor (Dr. X) who referred me, and a cc to the one who did the procedure (Dr. Y). I didn't realize at the time that the facility was a separate entity because it was in the same building. Dr. Z is the anesthesiologist who works at the facility in question.

I got a call from Dr Y's office manager, very apologetic, and she wanted me to know that they don?t approve of such treatment, and that this is not the only facility they use ? I can go elsewhere if necessary. I suppose they?re concerned with my repeat business, since I?ve heard that you need to repeat this kind of procedure every few years. She also asked me to describe Dr. Z. (I didn?t remember Dr. Z?s name, so I was reduced to describing gender, ethnic guess, and accent. I?d rather not let such things be important.)

I haven?t heard from anyone else.

Ditto, to all of the above. And if you try to tell them that ?paranoia,? by definition, is an irrational fear, they?ll laugh and say ?don?t get technical,? as though the difference is insignificant.