Then there is the question of when to send a patient home. Versed, a common office sedative, is reversed by the drug flumazenil. But if doctors do not know that flumazenil clears out of the bloodstream faster than Versed, they may think patients are fully alert when enough Versed lurks in their blood to later re-sedate them, Neeld says. That is what attorney Michael Worel believes happened to Susan Pearce. The Mobile, Ala., coroner ruled her death accidental, a side effect of sedation.
Safety equipment can help doctors avoid or rectify emergencies.
Check that the physician is board-certified for the type of surgery being performed and has done it extensively. A professional society, such as the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, or the state medical board may help. For children whose dentists urge sedation, the American Dental Association provides free consumer brochures. It can explain the different levels of training that general dentists, pediatric dentists or oral surgeons undergo. For any child being sedated, ask how the child will be monitored and if the doctor or dentist has child-sized resuscitation equipment, said Dr. Charles Cote of the University of Illinois, Chicago.