ASA 'May Day' - Stung By Exposure of Watergate-like Public Record Deletions, American Society of Anesthesiologists Closes Access to Website Newsletter

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- 'Mayday,' the universal sign for distress derived from the French phrase m'aider ("help me"), was appropriately celebrated this May 1st. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) closed public website access to their Newsletter's May edition.

No longer would whistleblower and leading anesthesia expert, Dr. Barry Friedberg, be able to document the Watergate-like deletions from the (formerly) publicly accessible website version of the Newsletter about pulse oximetry. http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=ind_focus.sto... 34k - No longer would the ASA be exposed to public chagrin.

"The ASA never matched their press release words of being in the 'never ending pursuit of patient safety' with their 7 year delay in declaring pulse oximetry a 'standard of care,'" says Friedberg. "Emulating Henry Ford, the ASA, 'Never complained, never explained.'"

Twenty to thirty million Americans are estimated to undergo surgery and anesthesia every year. Without a brain activity monitor, all are exposed to the risks of over medication.

Over medication risks include death and variable degrees of mental impairment post-operatively. Mental impairment is like a pseudo-Alzheimer's syndrome, more frequently called post operative cognitive dysfunction or (POCD). POCD is usually transitory.

Ongoing research suggests recurrence of cancer, increased one-year death rates, seizures, delirium and increased inflammatory response may also be avoidable risks by using brain activity monitors.

"The ASA track record with pulse oximetry does not suggest it will serve public safety any better with brain activity monitors. That record inspired me to launch the Goldilocks Anesthesia Foundation," said Friedberg.

The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Americans about the insidious risks of routine anesthesia over medication and the value of brain activity monitors in avoiding those risks.

"Patients need to advocate for their own safety and insist on brain activity monitoring with anesthesia," he says.

"Expect to run into resistance and, possibly, dissembling. Absent an emergency, insist on a brain monitor or you'll find another facility that will," he said.

"Anesthesia medicates your brain. Measure it!" concludes Friedberg.

For more information: www.GoldilocksAnesthesiaFoundation.org