Deepak Gupta is an anesthesiologist.
The question is whether practicing medicine is like or unlike practicing law. Only those in distress come in search of physicians and lawyers. Thus, their clients need healing as well as protection from the ills in their innate systems or in the systems surrounding them. The absolute dependence or even surrender of those in need during times of need provides their physicians as well as their lawyers the moral high …
The term “organ harvesting,” once a misnomer for organ procurement after organ donation, echoes in the phrase “procedure harvesting,” which could be an inadvertent misnomer for procedure procurement following procedure donation. Who knows if some may even suggest preemptive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation when cardiac arrest seems imminent during an elective non-cardiac procedure? Regardless, while pre-procedure optimization is always a goal for elective procedure procurement—and may even be achievable in emergent …
Privacy protection does not cease to exist at death, as privacy laws protect information until 50 years post-mortem. So, why does the protected information of public figures often find its way into the public domain long before this embargoed period elapses, sometimes almost immediately after death?
Firstly, the primary question is: What defines a public figure? Some individuals are public figures long before their deaths, while others become public figures at …
Unless planning to issue an update on practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), along with its subspecialty organization, the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP), should formulate a consensus statement for peri-anesthesia management during out-of-hospital cesarean sections (OHCS). Florida has become the first state to allow OHCS, an infrastructural relaxation for obstetric care that other states may follow. Whether the ensuing outcomes among pregnant …
Since the United States Food and Drug Administration approved exenatide in 2005, it took decades for the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) to identify and address perioperative safety concerns, if any, among patients using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) such as exenatide. This delay could be due to several factors: GLP-1 RAs were initially used only for managing diabetes and later for obesity, and now potentially for a wide …
When we call out to deem a patient difficult regarding access-airway-anesthesia, we do not consider the procedure, provider, proceduralist, place, phase, payer, or player as difficult. Does this mean that only patient conditions make it difficult, with conditions surrounding the procedure, provider, proceduralist, place, phase, payer, or player never coming into play? Aren’t we putting the onus solely on the patient when we document all such experiences of difficulty only …
Just like distracted driving, there can be a term called distracted detecting; however, when one delves further, one realizes that distracted driving itself is one form of distracted detecting. Distracted detecting can be understood through the prey-predator analogy within the animal kingdom, with particular relevance during vulnerable adolescence. This concept is detailed in books co-authored by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers, titled Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and …
Charm and competence among providers should ideally be concordant, but they can sometimes be discordant, which should be evaluated and corrected if possible. This discordance isn’t limited to health care; it can also be observed in politics, during litigation, and within families. Charming politicians can sway followers, charming litigators can sway juries, and charming family members can influence their families. Whether or not their competence, or lack thereof, gets overlooked …
The fictional 2007 television story depicting the plight of a widow with two daughters who, as a family, became homeless due to medical debt incurred during her since-deceased husband’s health care, is an eye-opener and heartbreaking. However, nowadays, the fact is emulating that fiction when statistics of homelessness risk due to medical debt are bewildering and shocking.
As compared to credit card debt, where buyers can at least gauge the maximum …
It is always assumed that the prosecution and the defense in the adversarial system may be searching for the facts that can then discover the truth. However, the whole truth may always remain undiscovered when the complete facts may not get uncovered due to competitive differences among the prosecution and the defense. This unbalanced competitiveness may arise from the perceived power held by the prosecution’s law offices contrasting with the …
There may be a distinction between sensitivity and sensibility; however, these lines often blur and even overlap rapidly. Conducting oneself sensibly both at and outside of work automatically assumes that one’s sensitivity is well-attuned to the present times. Simultaneously, regularly refreshing sensitivity presumably ensures that one always carries oneself sensibly, both at and outside of work. Yet, it’s worth pondering: what is the origin of human common sense? Has our …
Concerns about conflicts of interest and stereotyping differ in their complexity. Resolving stereotyping-related concerns is relatively straightforward. Stereotyping should be dismantled immediately, regardless of the reasons for its creation, before it continues to perpetuate unchecked. However, merely dissolving stereotyping might not be enough if one form of stereotyping is replaced by another. Therefore, the ongoing effort to combat stereotyping must continue. When aiming to dissolve any stereotyping and ensure it …
This is the story of an addiction, one that walks the fine line between construction and destruction. It’s a tale of work addiction, a cautionary tale for those who find themselves choosing work over home or self. But the narrative doesn’t end there, for it remains perplexing how work, while constructing livable lives for those ensnared by its allure, simultaneously dismantles their existence.
The addicted seek solace in mythologies that exalt …
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This could be the mythical and mystical tale of organized health care. Humans and their systems may become organized to evolve as large and stable entities, as disorganized ones may never grow large and may remain perpetually unstable, risking disintegration. However, once they reach the status of being “too big to fail” and become self-aware of this situation, the lines between ethics, morality, and legality may begin to blur. This …
Police officers are required to undergo second-victim counseling before returning to duty. Should physicians also undergo such counseling before resuming their work? This question arises, especially in light of the ongoing shortage of health care professionals. It prompts us to consider whether the prerequisites for returning to work are deemed more critical for police officers than for doctors. Perhaps physicians should establish specific scenarios where taking time off before returning …
Gaining insight into the customer’s perspective often occurs when one steps into the customer’s shoes, even if it’s in a different service industry. However, it’s crucial to remember that employees are individuals with their own needs. This brings us to a significant question: Should employees engage in lively and perhaps even boisterous conversations while confined to their workplace, where they might be the only sources of human interaction in an …
Inpatients require surgical procedures, raising the question of whether these procedures should be scheduled as elective or emergent. Traditionally, surgeries were deemed emergencies solely when there were physical, psychological, or rarely, spiritual imperatives, necessitating immediate action to avert irrevocable harm to patients’ bodies, minds, and souls. Now, the debate centers on whether surgical procedures can be considered emergencies to mitigate socioeconomic risks. These risks could lead to profound and lasting …
Two scourges of 24 x 7 x 365 coverage may be lost on-the-job sleep and soured on-the-job peace for workers, especially for health care workers.
Traditionally, attending physicians have had the privilege of call rooms while providing coverage for overnight health care services. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education expanded that privilege to resident physicians and fellow physicians. Now, it may be time to extend that privilege to advanced practitioners …
When registering individuals who are unresponsive to stimuli, unconscious, unaware, or lacking alertness, it has been customary to assign them the names John Doe or Jane Doe, based on physical characteristics, while also assigning their sex accordingly. If their family members or legal guardians arrive or are contacted, their sex is determined based on their recollections until the individuals themselves awaken and become capable of expressing their gender preferences, affirming …
In these uncertain times regarding entitlement, physicians find themselves unsure whether they should continue defending their use of the title “Dr.” There are instances where teachers can hold the title of Dr., as can individuals with PhDs. Additionally, nurses can also obtain PhDs and subsequently be addressed as Dr. Given the evolving climate of reducing privilege, should physicians still assert their entitlement? It is believed that patients desire to know …
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