Anesthesia

Sabrina Thalblum, RN, allegedly stole fentanyl from Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's outpatient surgery center from August 2018 to August 2019, The Gazette reported Dec. 3.

To combat the U.S. opioid crisis, anesthesiologists should lead efforts to provide opioid-free anesthesia, according to a Nov. 23 blog post from Anesthesia Business Consultants.

Pending uncertainty around Medicare reimbursement rates and the effects of the second COVID-19 wave have left the anesthesia community anxious, but hope remains, Anesthesia Business Consultants wrote in a Nov. 23 blog post.

A high-profile medical malpractice lawsuit against an anesthesiologist, Hackensack (N.J.) Anesthesiology Associates and the John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack was settled for $5.5 million, TAP into Westfield reported on Nov. 11.

New Jersey-based anesthesia and pain management specialist Morris Antebi, MD, was charged for his alleged role in a $24.6 million fraudulent billing scheme, the Department of Justice announced Nov. 9.

Oklahoma City anesthesiologist Ervin Yen, MD, plans to run for governor of Oklahoma in 2022, according to local ABC outlet KOCO News 5.

As of March, California had more professionally active anesthesiologists than any other state and Washington, D.C., according to Kaiser Family Foundation data.

  An Oct. 26 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found a vast difference between private and Medicare payments for anesthesia services.

Anesthesiologist Pramila Byahatti, MD, lost her medical license after she allegedly overprescribed opioids without a medical basis, the STL News reports.

On average, private insurers paid more than 3.5 times what Medicare paid for anesthesia services in 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a 23-page report published Oct. 26.