VIPs such as Admiral Fat Bottom get real doctors to administer sleeping stuff while the troops get only specially-trained nurses. Last month Potter sacked Navy Captain Alvin Manalaysay, the head man of Bethesda's Department of Anesthesiology, because the good doctor refused to go along with her scheme to allow nurse anesthetists to care for surgical patients without the supervision of trained M.D. anesthesiologists. Before undergoing major surgery recently, I spent as much time selecting the anesthesiologist as I did the surgeon who slit me open. I wanted to make sure I had the best team going. I'm the healthy living proof that I made the right choice.
Anesthesiologists are medical doctors.
Another Navy Doc makes it more personal. Anesthesia is not just the practice of Medicine, it is the practice of Critical Care Medicine. For the Navy and Adm. Potter to institute this reduced level of care except for the VIPs is not acceptable. Either they're as qualified as board-certified anesthesiologists or they're not. Perhaps the Navy should put Potter under the knife and see who she picks to spec the drugs to keep her alive if things don't go according to plan.