Here are four anesthesiologists making headlines since Nov. 1:
1. Boston-based Tufts Medical Center fired an anesthesiologist after he was arrested for attempted sex trafficking in a federal operation. Sadeq Ali Quraishi, MD, was arrested Nov. 2 after he attempted to pay for sex with a teenager at a hotel.
2. Anesthesiologist Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr., MD, is asking to be released from jail after pleading not guilty to allegations he injected heart-stopping drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas.
According to prosecutors, he allegedly injected IV bags with bupivacaine, epinephrine and lidocaine, which caused almost a dozen patients to experience unexpected cardiac emergencies.
3. Carlos David Castro Rojas was awarded more than $21 million in a suit against an anesthesiologist and certified registered nurse anesthetist for an injury sustained during a procedure at Dallas-based Baylor University Medical Center.
Mr. Rojas went into surgery for a shin fracture on Oct. 11, 2017, according to the suit. During the surgery, he was put under general anesthesia and suffered a brain injury from lack of oxygen to his brain.
4. Maria Laporta, MD, chief of anesthesiology at Freeport (Ill.) Memorial Hospital, was named a member of the Illinois State Medical Board. Dr. Laporta also practices with Rockford (Ill.) Anesthesiologists Associates. Outside of her clinical work, Dr. Laporta serves as a clinical assistant professor in the department of surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford.
Her appointment to the medical board is pending confirmation by the Illinois State Senate.