Steven Shafer on Conrad Murray & propofol… today in court

While Dr. Steven Shafer attempted to explain to the jury what the terms ‘pharmaco-mechanics,’ & ‘pharmaco-kinetics’ meant, I could not help thinking what utter nonsense these areas are relative to what really matters to you, the patient, in general and Michael Jackson, the victim, in particular.

Direct brain measurement devices, like the bispectral (BIS) index, have been FDA approved for 15 years & validated in over 3500 published scientific studies.

Anesthesia is medicine given to your brain.

Unlike TEE (transesophageal echocardiography), BIS monitoring does not earn the anesthesiologist in the OR any extra money on a case by case basis.

The hospital views the use of the $20 disposable BIS sensor as a non-recoverable loss because there is no billing code for it.

There is no billing code for the sensor because universal brain monitoring would result in a 30% loss of drug sales to the companies who also supply the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) with millions of dollars in various forms of support.

Expecting the ASA endorse universal brain monitoring would be asking them to threaten their financial viability.

Only you, the patient, are left to deal with the long term effects of your short term anesthesia care.

Those long term effects include delirium or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) that can last up to a year, dementia that never goes away and one patient anesthesia over-medication death DAILY.

The model for change is the same one that ultimately got fathers in the delivery rooms. Public awareness leading to public demand!

Having surgery under anesthesia without a brain monitor is like playing Russian roulette with your mind.

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