In our last newsletter article, we discussed Michigan state residents’ success in repealing a mandatory state helmet law despite cries from public health officials. The citizens were able to accomplish this because they were persistent, passionate and presented “studies” they paid to commission.
Efforts like these are not restricted to helmet laws, and they have occurred this year in our own specialty. Just last year in New York State, the New York State Association of Nurse Anesthetists (NYSANA) paid an outside service to perform a study titled “Anesthesia Services Provided in Hospitals in Upstate New York.” The study was highly skewed and used carefully selected language to create the impression that the inability of nurses to practice independently was a barrier to patient care. What’s more, both nurse anesthetists and their lobbyists presented the “findings” of this very skewed study to New York lawmakers.
The study polled 28 hospitals in...