> Why should there be? Versed is a Schedule IV drug, vecuronium is not scheduled-if anything DEA scheduling is supposedly about abuse potential, not safety. Ve

> Why should there be? Versed is a Schedule IV drug, vecuronium is not scheduled-if anything DEA scheduling is supposedly about abuse potential, not safety. Vecuronium is one of the most dangerous drugs in the hospital. It's used to paralyze essentially every muscle in the body except the heart to keep a patient from moving during surgery or to get a breathing tube through spasming vocal cords. These muscles include the ones used for breathing. Most physicians aren't allowed to give it. Those that are have trained for years before they're allowed to give it independently. There are no circumstances when a nurse should be giving this drug without a physician closely supervising.