As I shared last post, Erin Olszewski went undercover as a licensed nurse at Elmhurst Hospital in New York City — the hospital said to be “besieged by the virus.” Floors of COVID patients, all on ventilators, all ending up in body bags. 

Well, not all of them. 

“I’ll tell you that the unit I have been on,” says Olszewski in an Journeyman Pictures interview, “the only person that survived, ironically, is a guy who pulled his own tube out.”

What makes this story doubly rare is the number of sedatives and paralyzing drugs the patient was on. Olszewski says a typical patient has eight or more “drips running into them at the same time.” She believes the overdose of medication (along with the ventilator itself) is the real cause of death – not COVID.

Last post I listed the first four meds on the drip, here are four more:

5. Versed (50 mg) “helps to cause drowsiness, decrease anxiety, and to decrease your memory of the surgery or procedure.” says WebMed. It includes “serious symptoms such as passing out or trouble breathing.”

6. Levophed (1600mg) “is used to treat life-threatening low blood pressure (hypotension) that can occur with certain medical conditions or surgical procedures,” says Drugs.com. An overdose leads to “slow heartbeats… and stabbing chest pain.” 

7. Neo-Synephrine (50mg) is another drug “used to treat low blood pressure” according to Drug.com.  Side effects include “wheezing, tightness in the chest or throat, trouble breathing,” “kidney problems” and “abnormal heartbeat.”

8. Propofol (10mg) “is used to put you to sleep and keep you asleep during general anesthesia for surgery or other medical procedures,” says Drug.com. Side effects include ”shallow breathing” and “fast or slow heartbeat.”

”No one survives,” says Olszewski. “[But] he did. He was the only one…. Turns out that he did [recreational] drugs… so all [these meds] that we give normal people didn’t cut it for him….  Had he not pulled that [tube] out he would definitely be dead for sure. They don’t extubate anyone.”