I will give you three guesses on the gender of the anesthesiologist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/anesthesiologist-trashes-sedated-patient-jury-orders-her-to-pay-500000/2015/06/23/cae05c00-18f3-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html

On the upside she lost her job and has to pay a lot of money.

Then, a non-board certified cardiologist with zero training in anesthesia killed the most famous musician in the world with one of the most useful anesthetic drugs we have.  The perception of Anesthsia took a massive hit as a result.  But at least we could say, “That error was not made by an anesthesiologist…”.

Now, we have this woman who should probably never have been allowed into medical school, saying that she wanted to punch a man in the face so he would “man up”…

Anesthesia as a profession, is not to be blamed for this.  Neither is medicine, or the medical school whose government mandated gender quotas required her admission.  I blame this behavior on the source of the , message that this woman has likely been receiving for as long as she can remember.  She’s been told that since she  is a woman, she is entitled to certain privileges, that she is not accountable to the rules of professionalism or ettiquette that govern the behavior of everyone else, and that she does not owe basic respect to her own patients.  It is a very rare man that receives that message, but almost all women do.

If she were in a court of law on a criminal charge, being female would offer her some protection.  What’s about to be explained to her in the court of public opinion, is that after having asked/demanded to be part of a historically male world, she will not so easily escape the accountability and responsibility that men here have always had.  The American public may see the medical profession as historically male, but the expectation of perfection the public imposes on medicine’s results… is genderless.

She made the mistake of assuming she did not owe basic respect to her own patient.  She made another when she assumed she would never be held accountable for that.  Finally, she made the mistake of allowing this to go to open court where it becomes public record and available for broadcasting in the media.  She could have just written the check quietly, and made it go away, but must have mistakenly assumed that she was beyond consequences.

I don’t mind that she learned this lesson the hard way.  Pain can be a very effective teacher.  I just wish she could have learned the lesson in a way that didn’t cause a black eye to our whole profession…

However many women there are in medicine, the profession will not forgive her for this.  A male director would never hire her for obvious reasons.  And a female director (like females everywhere) will not take the risk of being associated with her.  She may not realize it yet, but this will follow her forever.  It has been in the media, and in the courts… Which means it will pop up in back ground checks on her forever.  Those background checks are required at any hospital where she ever applies for privileges.

I can’t imagine a way for her to get a job anywhere now.

I’m am anesthesiologist myself. I heard about this case a while back, but now it’s found its way into the national media. She has set back the public perception of medicine in general and anesthesia in particular…about 70 years. For the last three generations, a lot of very smart people have been working very hard to create better drugs and better monitors in order to reduce what were once very high risks associated with general anesthesia. There was a time when just the risk of dying from the anesthesia was as high as 20%. However, there are very few people old enough to remember that time. And this is the speed at which the public perception of anesthesia could be changed for the better. We have gotten the risk of dying from a complication of anesthesia down to about 1 in 250,000 to 1 in 500,000. Then, a non-board certified cardiologist with zero training in anesthesia killed the most famous musician in the world with one of the most useful anesthetic drugs we have. The perception of Anesthsia took a massive hit as a result. But at least we could say, “That error was not made by an anesthesiologist…”. Now, we have this woman who should probably never have been allowed into medical school, saying that she wanted to punch a man in the face so he would “man up”… Anesthesia as a profession, is not to be blamed for this. Neither is medicine, or the medical school whose government mandated gender quotas required her admission. I blame this behavior on the source of the , message that this woman has likely been receiving for as long as she can remember. She’s been told that since she is a woman, she is entitled to certain privileges, that she is not accountable to the rules of professionalism or ettiquette that govern the behavior of everyone else, and that she does not owe basic respect to her own patients. It is a very rare man that receives that message, but almost all women do. If she were in a court of law on a criminal charge, being female would offer her some protection. What’s about to be explained to her in the court of public opinion, is that after having asked/demanded to be part of a historically male world, she will not so easily escape the accountability and responsibility that men here have always had. The American public may see the medical profession as historically male, but the expectation of perfection the public imposes on medicine’s results… is genderless. She made the mistake of assuming she did not owe basic respect to her own patient. She made another when she assumed she would never be held accountable for that. Finally, she made the mistake of allowing this to go to open court where it becomes public record and available for broadcasting in the media. She could have just written the check quietly, and made it go away, but must have mistakenly assumed that she was beyond consequences. I don’t mind that she learned this lesson the hard way. Pain can be a very effective teacher. I just wish she could have learned the lesson in a way that didn’t cause a black eye to our whole profession… However many women there are in medicine, the profession will not forgive her for this. A male director would never hire her for obvious reasons. And a female director (like females everywhere) will not take the risk of being associated with her. She may not realize it yet, but this will follow her forever. It has been in the media, and in the courts… Which means it will pop up in back ground checks on her forever. Those background checks are required at any hospital where she ever applies for privileges. I can’t imagine a way for her to get a job anywhere now.

Well said and upvoted.