As many popular medications in the United States have continued to increase in price, there has been a related rise in the number of counterfeit medications being produced and sold, specifically online. Reports of fraudulent medications include opioids, cancer drugs, erectile dysfunction medications and weight-loss medications. As such, both the FDA and the FBI have posted warnings of counterfeit medications, such as Ozempic (semaglutide, Novo Nordisk). "I unfortunately got to meet a patient tak...
Jul 01, 2025•6 min•Season 4Ep. 19
A healthcare company executive is shot in the back, murdered in cold blood; an angry populace chafes at the rising costs of health insurance and denials in coverage; and a privately held insurance company schemes to fatten its bottom line by restricting reimbursement for anesthesia services. In the parlance of that god-awful, hackneyed expression, “there’s a lot to unpack.” A few things stand out that seemingly most Americans can agree upon. Things cost too damned much. It is truly difficult to ...
May 08, 2025•5 min•Season 4Ep. 18
From never-ending staffing shortages to a myriad of financial challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the past several years have been exceptionally difficult on the United States' healthcare system. Although many institutions have weathered the storm, some have resorted to private equity, some are on life support and others have closed their doors. Now, hospitals and health systems (and our country at large) are facing another unforeseen obstacle: tariffs on imports into this country. The presid...
Apr 29, 2025•6 min•Season 4Ep. 17
The Los Angeles wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes and stores, and left entire communities in ash and rubble. And while lives have already been lost, experts are now discussing the long-term health impact for those who lived or worked in the area. "The general practitioners, the anesthesiologists, the entire medical community needs to be educated in occupational medicine and the lessons that we've learned in occupational medicine in dealing with massive exposure," said Peter J. Papadako...
Jan 28, 2025•8 min•Season 4Ep. 16
The number of senior citizens is growing rapidly; individuals aged 65 and older increased from 39.6 million in 2009 to 54.1 million in 2019 (a 36% increase) and is projected to reach 94.7 million by 2060. However, over the last few years, the usual respect and care of our aging population is decaying into a growing incidence of neglect and abuse. Prior to COVID-19, one in 10 elderly adults in the U.S. experienced elder abuse. A major review in 2017 of 52 studies from 28 nations reported that 15....
Jul 17, 2024•13 min•Season 4Ep. 15
There has been a marked increase in mass casualty events in our society. Targets have included schools, malls, houses of worship, and yes, hospitals. Our staffing crisis unfortunately has negatively affected even our most robust trauma system and emergency rooms; there has also been the closure of many hospitals in rural areas, which has created healthcare deserts. The inability of many towns and small cities to care for “terror event” patients’ issues, of course, will affect how we deliver trau...
Jan 30, 2024•8 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Whitney Fallahian, MD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, shares her thoughts on several important topics for fledgling anesthesiologists, such as fellowship options, work-life balance and salary expectations.
Dec 15, 2023•7 min•Season 4Ep. 13
The American healthcare system is experiencing a growing crisis: How do we adequately staff our operating rooms, hospitals, clinics and offices with healthcare professionals? The lack of staff crosses all professional lines, from physicians to nurses to lab technologists—all levels of staff are in short supply. To deal with this challenge, health administrators have resorted to using temporary contract workers known as locums. These temporary, stop-gap employees are usually paid multiple times m...
Aug 14, 2023•14 min•Season 4Ep. 12
At the 2023 spring meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Rajnish Gupta, MD, a professor of anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville, Tenn., discusses how podcasting can be a way for anesthesiologists to highlight their academic work and communicate with other like-minded professionals in the specialty. “The beauty of podcasting is that it allows the speaker to talk on a specific topic to a narrow audience. That way you can expand on...
Aug 03, 2023•6 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Barbara Orlando, MD, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology and the division chief of obstetric anesthesiology at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in Houston, discusses several ways to reduce morbidity and mortality in pregnant patients. She also addresses high-risk pregnant patients with various comorbidities, such as obesity and those with a lack of prenatal care. “This podcast is about my personal journey as an anesthesiologist in gaining unders...
Apr 26, 2023•11 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 20% of U.S. adults, of whom about 90% are undiagnosed. The major risk factors for OSA include obesity, male sex and a family history of OSA. There is a large body of literature showing that OSA is an independent risk factor for hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke. This case illustrates how a patient presented for elective admission for surgery and suffered a stroke. A 55-year-old man with obesity presented for elective surgery for a chron...
Apr 12, 2023•6 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Cancer is a major global public health concern that affects all citizens and communities around the world. Globally, the incidence of cancer is predicted to increase by 50% by the year 2030; and during the same period, cancer-related mortality is projected to increase by 60% to 13.1 million deaths worldwide. This increasing trend in cancer-related mortality exists despite a slow but steady decline in cancer-related death rates since the early 1990s in the United States and the Western world. Cit...
Mar 27, 2023•10 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Neil Ratner, MD, has played remarkably divergent roles in his life, initially as a rock-and-roll drummer and staging entrepreneur, working with the likes of Edgar Winter and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But he always had an interest in medicine, so eventually he ditched his successful rock career and went to medical school, later becoming an anesthesiologist who embraced the then-novel concept of delivering non-OR anesthesia, which he helped pioneer. It was through his work as an anesthesiologist...
Feb 21, 2023•20 min•Season 4Ep. 7
The Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division is warning local residents of a dangerous new drug emerging in the D.C. area that is as deadly as fentanyl. We as neurocritical care practitioners may therefore soon find ourselves caring for patients that have overdosed on this drug and may be suffering from severe hypoxic injury and coma. In the fall of 2019, a new synthetic opioid named isotonitazene made its debut in the U.S. and Canada. The drug, which is not a derivative of fentanyl b...
Jan 09, 2023•7 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Over the past two years, Saddleback Hospital, in Laguna Hills, Calif., has implemented a robust ERAC (early recovery after cesarean) protocol that includes a transversus abdominis plane block with liposomal bupivacaine for post-op cesarean delivery pain. Results have shown that the protocol has reduced the use of narcotics for the post-op period by 80%, and has improved the overall satisfaction with the post-op period considerably by reducing nausea and vomiting, itching, and constipation. In ad...
Dec 26, 2022•5 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In the previous chapters of “ Anesthesiology News Presents The Etherist,” we defined just what physician well-being is , when it came to light and why the concept needs to be addressed at institutional and systemwide levels . We also explored managing the cognitive workload during residency , the stress of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unexpected toll that burnout can leave behind. And now, for the final episode of the series, various experts share their thoughts on how to best r...
Nov 30, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In the second episode of Anesthesiology News presents The Etherist, we discussed some of the main causes and signs of burnout. We also explored what it was like to work during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this installment, we first examine well-being during residency. Managing the cognitive workload and production pressure can be incredibly demanding, even for seasoned doctors. So, without proper guidance and a strong foundation, the acute setting can easily lead to burnout for residen...
Nov 15, 2022•29 min•Season 4Ep. 3
The season premiere of Anesthesiology News presents The Etherist featured Dr. Amy Vinson, the chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee on Physician Well-Being. Among many other things, she explained why physician well-being needs to be addressed at an institutional and systemwide level. In this episode, we delve deeper into working during the COVID-19 pandemic, the unexpected toll burnout can leave behind and why being mindful of it is paramount. Join us as we talk with sever...
Nov 02, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 2
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, anesthesiologists are being asked to do more than ever with less. Staffing shortages, supply chain issues, administrative burdens, regulatory compliance and unpredictable work hours continue to plague the field and contribute to burnout. This is a universal problem, and these are symptoms of a work environment that’s not conducive to sustainability. Although “burnout” has historically been defined in several different ways, the term is generally characterize...
Oct 20, 2022•27 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In this new season of “ Anesthesiology News presents The Etherist,” we’re going to examine a topic that’s both spoken about not enough and too much — physician well-being. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, anesthesiologists are being asked to do more than ever with less. Staffing shortages, supply chain issues, administrative burdens, regulatory compliance and unpredictable work hours continue to plague the field and contribute to burnout. This is a universal problem, and these are symptoms ...
Oct 13, 2022•4 min
In this episode of “Ask the Experts,” Rita Agarwal, MD, joins the show to discuss the efforts in California to pass legislation to change anesthesia delivery in pediatric dental anesthesia cases. Agrawal has played an important role in advising and promoting the need for improved practices in the state, especially when it comes to the sole-operator model of anesthesia delivery. Agarwal is a clinical professor of anesthesiology at Stanford University School of Medicine, in California. She is also...
May 31, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode of “Ask the Experts,” we talk with Navin Goyal, MD, a co-founder of OFFOR Health, and Saket Agrawal, the CEO of OFFOR Health, about their company’s success in building a mobile anesthesia service aimed at providing office-based anesthesia for dental procedures. Goyal is an anesthesiologist from Columbus, Ohio. He started OFFOR Health to address the problems with patient access to anesthesia care in his community. Agrawal, who is also a Columbus native, spent 10 years working in S...
Apr 26, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 4
In this episode of “On the Case,” James Prudden interviews Elizabeth A.M. Frost, MD, about some of this most unique and memorable cases of her career. Frost was the original clinical editor of The Frost Series, which bears her name in honor of her contributions to the art of the case study. And she will be the guest editor of the series again in the May and June issues. In preparation for her return to editing the series, Prudden, our editorial director, caught up with Frost to discuss some of t...
Apr 12, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode of “Ask the Experts,” William Rosenblatt, MD, comes back on the show to discuss his work on the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Difficult Airway Guidelines. He also explains how it took years to build the Airway on Demand video library and why he does it. Rosenblatt is a professor of anesthesiology and otolaryngology at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn. He developed the Airway on Demand program to provide educational resources on airway management. He was a...
Mar 29, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 2
“On the Case” is back for another season of in-depth interviews with the authors of the best case reports published in Anesthesiology News . The first episode of the year features L. Jane Stewart, MD, JD, MPH, who co-wrote the review titled “Comatose in the PACU? Remove the Scopolamine Patch” ( Anesthesiology News Special Edition 2021;17:81-85). Stewart comes on the podcast to discuss the details behind the case as well as how she and her team were able to determine the right diagnosis despite t...
Mar 15, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Anesthesiology News will be publishing a new season of our popular podcast series, “On the Case” and “Ask the Experts.” “On the Case” is a review series that features the authors of our popular case report series. We hear the behind-the-scenes story on the most unique clinical case studies published in the magazine directly from the professionals who managed them. The first episode of this new season features an interview with L. Jane Stewart, MD, JD, MPH, who co-wrote a case report about a pati...
Mar 01, 2022•3 min
In this episode, we turn our focus to the present to see how recent research could be used to shape the future of anesthesiology. In previous episodes, we reviewed how the pioneers of anesthesia were able to successfully use ether and chloroform without the full knowledge of those drugs that we have today. In that spirit, we explore whether there is untapped potential in our current scientific expertise that could help improve the delivery of modern-day anesthesia. This season of the podcast beg...
Nov 23, 2021•32 min•Season 3Ep. 4
In the previous episodes, we relived the incredible achievements of the discoverers of anesthesia in Davy, Morton, Simpson and Long. But another individual may be just as important to the progress of the specialty as those who discovered it. John Snow was a doctor and scientist in London when he first witnessed a demonstration of ether anesthesia. Even though he was not credited with the discovery of ether or chloroform, he became a leader in the advancement of modern medicine in England. In fac...
Nov 09, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 3
The discovery of chloroform was closely intertwined with ether anesthesia because of the relative closeness of their discoveries, but it did not take long for the early pioneers of anesthesia use to understand the enormous difference between the two anesthetic agents. From October 1846 to November 1847, anesthesia providers used ether to ease pain in surgery and it might have seemed as if a golden age in medicine was just beginning, but tragedy would eventually strike the growing specialty of an...
Oct 26, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 2
On Friday, Oct. 16, 1846, William Thomas Green Morton changed the world of medicine with his demonstration of vaporized ether anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. The discovery and public demonstration of ether anesthesia was not a sudden achievement, though. In fact, it was the results of incremental scientific gains by dozens of scientists from Raymond Lully, the Spanish alchemist who first distilled sulfuric ether in 1275, to Joseph Priestly, the English researcher who dev...
Oct 16, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 1
