My recent post about the challenges of NORA was picked up by the Medpage Today’s popular medical blog KevinMD.com. This was a timely release, given the recent events surrounding Joan Rivers’ death. To be honest, I hadn’t heard about her death being a possible result of an endoscopic procedure until I started reading some of the comments to my post. (Shows you how much TV I watch)!
Of course at this juncture, it is difficult to know the details of how she suffered cardiac and/or respiratory arrest during an elective procedure at an outpatient medical center. She could have been receiving moderate sedation or something deeper, and there may or may not have been an anesthesiologist present (I cannot piece it together from the conflicting reports I have read).
The thing to note is that she was 81. She may have had lots of plastic surgery that made her physical appearance belie her age, but sedation or anesthesia on an 81 year old is never without risk. And sedation or anesthesia of any type on anyone is not without risk.
Anyway, here is the link to the syndicated post. If you can’t stand to read the post again but are curious about the comments, those can be found here.
Two Weeks of Waiting = Torture