Yeah, that’s definitely fair.

Avoiding a CRNA is ideal, yes. It’s unfortunate, because there are absolutely CRNAs who are incredibly experienced and as knowledgeable as actual Anesthesiologists. But the reality is, it’s mostly shitty private hospitals and clinics that use CRNAs because they’re too cheap to pay for someone with actual experience. Capable CRNAs are the exception, not the rule (or even common) in this situation.

It’s just greedy fucks being greedy.

Nearly all. That’s the caveat.

Not every anesthesiologist will see a death due to anesthesia, but most will. Based on current numbers at least (and even a decade ago it was much worse.). Most deaths they face will be due to people with extreme risk factors or unplanned situations, but that doesn’t change the fact that most anesthesiologists will face at least one death they absolutely didn’t expect.

I’d also bring up that unplanned anesthesia really doesn’t matter; because the people that die unexpectedly in those situations are those with no risk factors at all. You never expect a young person, in good shape, with no known health issues to suddenly go into cardiac arrest, because it turns out they have a faulty valve in their heart. It doesn’t really matter whether it was a planned surgery or not. The majority of people who die in unplanned anesthesia situations have known or very obvious risk factors.

It is improving. Better imaging makes a HUGE difference. Issues that wouldn’t have even been caught 10 years ago, let alone longer, are being seen far in advance and can be planned around.

I’m not an anesthesiologist. But I’ve been put under almost 20 times, the majority of which have been in the last 10 years. I’m 29, just to clarify. I also carpooled with a child of an anesthesiologist the majority of highschool. I‘ve had this discussion with every single anesthesiologist besides the first, since it was my tonsils when I was 2 years old.

I’m not a doctor, but what I’m saying is what every single experienced anesthesiologists have told me. Every time before I’ve been put under. It’s always a risk. And I was probably in a better position, because i was generally healthy and had “good“ experiences with anesthesia.

While it’s likely in this case that the issue occurred due to the fact that he didn’t seem to be getting the correct supervision from an anesthesiologist…

it’s not a guarantee this wouldn’t have happened anyways. Surgery is always dangerous. Even the simplest of surgeries could mean you never wake up again.

The absolute best of the best anesthesiologists will still likely face a death where anesthesia was the cause (or a factor) at some point in their career. Not to mention other issues, like what happened in the OP, or heart attacks, strokes, etc.

Elderly or those with pre existing conditions will always be the highest risk, but just being 27 doesn’t mean there are no risk factors. At that age, pre existing conditions may still be unknown; especially if the person in question has never been put under anesthesia before. Some people are more (or less) susceptible to the affects of anesthesia, which can make a huge difference. Some people are born with heart defects that only become known when specific situations occur. There’s a million and one different factors involved with anesthesia and while the anesthesiologists best judgement will be correct in the vast majority of cases, there’s always a possibility it’s wrong or something goes wrong during the process.

The family was awarded money correctly, and it’s very likely that this situation would never have occurred if it wasn’t a distracted doctor supervising CRNAs who were also busy. That, or it would have been caught earlier, meaning no or little longterm impairment. The fact that private companies are trying to cheap out by pushing overworked CRNAs instead of fully trained anesthesiologists is absolutely disgusting and shouldn’t be allowed.

But I think it’s still important to point out that what they said is not necessarily false. He may very well have gotten the best care possible, and this could have happened regardless of who was supervising him. It’s just not the most likely situation.