The anesthesiologist who had everything

The rates of addiction is mostly similar among medical professions and similar to the rest of society. What differs is the drug used, which is the drug available. For anesthesiologists this tends to be the potent opiates like fentanyl.

What is remarkable about this story is how the OR staff covered for this physician. The patient should never have been left alone and the anesthesiologist’s absence should have instantly resulted in summoning help for the patient on the table, and someone to find out where the anesthesiologist has gotten off to. The OR staff had a duty to the patient that was abrogated in this case, fortunately to no harm to the patient. However, if they had met their duty to the patient, the physician likely would have been exposed for his drug use. Perhaps the OR staff knew of the drug use and condoned the situation.

We’ve had a resident leave our department every few years due to drug use. One was found dead in a call room, apparently having accidentally swaped syringes of fentanyl with succinylcholine. They died awake but with every muscle of their body paralyzed.