Somnia Clinician Featured in Anesthesiology News

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (March 31, 2014) – Clifford Gevirtz, MD, has been featured in Anesthesiology News in the March 2014 issue. Dr. Gevirtz wrote an article entitled “Does “Safe Use” for Epidural Steroid Injections Miss the Point?” where he critiques the FDA’s Safe Use Initiative. Dr. Gevirtz is an anesthesiologist at St. Barnabas hospital in Bronx, NY, a partner hospital of Somnia Anesthesia.

The Safe Use Initiative, according to Dr. Gevirtz, is a program in which medical practitioners collaborate and agree on the safe use of particular medications. According to the FDA website, “The goal of the Safe Use Initiative is to reduce preventable harm by identifying specific, preventable medication risks…”

Dr. Gevirtz, claimed that this initiative “has been turned on its head.” Using epidural steroid administrations (ESAs) as his prime example, he noted that the particulate steroids used in ESAs is “inherently unsafe” and, according to the Safe Use Initiative, 1 in 5000 cases result in an embolism. Considering the frequency of this procedure, Dr. Gevirtz emphasizes the severity of these numbers. However, the Safe Use Initiative did nothing to encourage change, though there are comparable methods such as using dexamethasone.

According to Dr. Robert C. Goldstein, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Somnia Anesthesia, “a doctor like Dr. Gevirtz is just another example of the types of clinicians that are part of the Somnia network. He is a doctor that goes above and beyond the O.R. and broadens his role in anesthesia to help improve patient safety nationwide. We are elated over his contributions to Anesthesiology News.”

To read the entire article, please click here.