Do you remember the movie, “Jurassic Park?”

It was based on what seemed like a brilliant idea: clone dinosaurs. It seemed a good solution — until, of course, everything went horribly wrong. It turns out that letting velociraptors roam free wasn’t just dangerous; it was also a spectacularly bad plan for solving humanity’s problems. Expanding the scope of practice of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) feels a lot like that. In theory, it may sound like a good idea, but in practice, it’s risky and doesn’t deliver the ‘promised’ results.

Let’s dive into why.

The setup: Who are nurse anesthetists and what do they want?

Nurse anesthetists are skilled professionals who assist in delivering anesthesia, an essential part of the anesthesia care TEAM. However, some nurse anesthetists want to take on more than their training allows — like administering anesthesia without any supervision from a physician.  In fact, part of the failure was that Hammond thought he could go it alone and engage in something that was far outside of his league.

Spoiler alert:  it didn’t end well.”

The plot twists: Their arguments fall apart

Over the years, nurse anesthetists have tried several pitches to sell this bad idea, but each one crumbles under scrutiny:

— “It’s safe!”

A study they funded to show that letting them work alone wouldn’t harm patients, unfortunately, proved the opposite: patients were more likely to have serious complications, especially the really sick ones, proving that so-called “independent practice” was a dangerous proposition.

— “It will save money!”

Next, they argued that letting nurse anesthetists work solo would lower costs. But anesthesia billing doesn’t work that way — insurance pays the same regardless of who delivers the medicine. Plus, what is the cost of fixing mistakes from complications? Priceless (and not in the fun credit-card-commercial way).

— “It will help patients in rural areas get surgery faster!”

This is the latest claim: Letting nurse anesthetists work alone will cause them to relocate to rural communities. Sounds great, except for one problem: it’s not true. Florida already has a severe nurse shortage, and overloading nurse anesthetists with responsibilities they’re not trained for won’t suddenly fix it. Nor will they magically uproot themselves from well-paying jobs in urban areas to move into rural communities.

The facts: What science says

A new study from professors at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) — funded by the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Society of Anesthesiologists—looked into this rural access claim. This group of professors was approached because they had released several prior studies in this arena.  Spoiler alert: it’s not working and there is no evidence that it will work. States that expanded Nurse Anesthetists’ roles outside of their training (and allowed for independent practice) DID NOT see any increase in care for underserved rural areas.

The takeaway: Keep the team together

Nurse anesthetists are an important part of the anesthesia care team — emphasis on “team.” Like Jurassic Park, where things worked best when the experts stuck to their lanes (before the dinosaurs started eating everyone), anesthesia care needs strong leadership from physicians to stay safe and effective. Removing physician supervision isn’t just a bad idea—it’s a very real disaster waiting to happen. And especially in relation to their latest false claim, it won’t help solve Florida’s healthcare access in rural areas either.

Let’s focus on real solutions, not risky sequels no one asked for. After all, we’ve seen how those movies turn out — and to be sure, we are not talking about a movie thriller but a truly scary proposition.

When it comes to anesthesia, we know that the physician-led team model works.  It’s not just the safest but also the most cost-effective means of administering anesthesia medicine – and it is not science fiction but a proven scientific fact.

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Dr. Asha Padmanabhan, M.D. is a Board-Certified Anesthesiologist and the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists president.

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U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna will head a congressional effort to declassify info on topics from John F. Kennedy’s assassination to the origins of COVID.

The St. Petersburg Republican promised to uncover federal government secrets and to do so in a bipartisan manner.

“For too long, the American spirit has been dimmed by veil of secrecy, by a government that has grown too comfortable in the shadows, denying us the transparency we deserve,” she said.

Luna appeared at a Washington Press conference alongside U.S. Rep. James Comey, a Kentucky Republican and Chair of the House Oversight Committee.

Comey stressed that the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets would act under the auspices of the larger committee and be made up of Democrats and Republicans. He said there was no better person to lead it than Luna.

“She is committed to throwing open the windows for the American people to allow the sunlight of truth shine on the federal government,” Comey said.

Luna played a role in 2023 in a House Oversight Investigation of military classification on unidentified flying objects. That included discussion of objects captured on surveillance at Eglin Air Force base in Florida, and Luna said she intends for the task force to continue scrutinizing info about that.

But she also said the task force will look at the assassinations of President Kennedy in 1963, former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Three government investigations into the JFK assassination have taken place, most notably the Warren Commission. But Luna said many didn’t ask eyewitnesses enough, including some in the room for the President’s autopsy. All investigations concluded a lone shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, killed the President, but Luna said she disagreed.

“I believe that there were two shooters,” Luna said.

She also wants to look at any cover-up of Florida billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. Epstein in 2008 served just 13 months after Florida prosecutors cut what was widely seen as a “sweetheart deal.” Epstein was arrested years later on federal charges but committed suicide in 2019.

She also wants to know what information the CIA had in hand before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. All of the subjects she presented have been the subject of conspiracy theories shared online and before that in other forums. But Luna said this would not be a “conspiracy theory committee”

The announcement did not release what Democrats will serve on the task force. Luna said she believes President Donald Trump’s administration supports the declassification mission, and noted Trump recently declassified new information on the Kennedy shooting,

Luna said the goal of the task force will be to demystify events and end online speculation.

“When you have only certain information that’s shared with the American people, that’s when conspiracy theories happen,” she said. and it’s in my opinion, that conspiracy theories can be detrimental. It doesn’t mean that in the last couple months, we haven’t been right on a few things.”

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Speakers told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee that marijuana is more potent now than ever before, creating new challenges for cops and for the citizenry writ large alike.

The anti-pot subject matter experts explained how THC concentrations beget law enforcement and public health complications. Jessica Spencer, the Director of Advocacy for the Vote No on 3 campaign against a failed adult-use legalization amendment last year, told lawmakers about an increasingly potent product on the market from an “insidious and predatory industry.”

She noted that her understanding of marijuana’s dangers has increased given “toxicity” and “high-potency products” that have come to dominate the market in the modern era.

Varietals like Sour Kush and Gorilla Glue have been bred for years to exceed 25% THC, well above the levels found in Woodstock-era weed, where the average THC concentration was said to be under 1%, per Drug Enforcement Administration data.

Vape cartridges with punny names like Dabbalicious exceed 80% THC levels, meanwhile, along with other synthesized products.

Cute names for strains don’t diminish the serious consequences from cannabis, Spencer said, which includes problems for parents whose progeny is prone to addiction, depression, schizophrenia and other mental maladies associated with cannabis addiction. One particularly infamous example of a weed-driven killer was cited: Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz.

Ranking Democrat Carlos G. Smith asked Spencer if she was drawing a correlation and she said there was “causation and correlation between cannabis use and violence” in some cases.

Daily users are of particular concern, Spencer noted, and in greatest need of “solutions” and “hope” from legislative solutions.

Yet even the young are targeted by “candies, cookies and snacks,” she warned.

Spencer advocated education about pot’s potential harms, with tough laws enacted to crack down on stoned drivers and roadside tests to discern those impaired by the increasingly ubiquitous substance.

She would also like to see a ban on intoxicating hemp products, such as delta-8 THC. The 2018 federal Farm Bill made hemp available in the retail, non-medical market.

Illustrating the complexity of the debate, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a crackdown on hemp (SB 1698) last year as he enlisted industry support against the marijuana legalization amendment that Spencer also opposed.

Meanwhile, she would like to see the prioritization of simple possession penalties, arguing that habitual users present the biggest challenges for policymakers.

Her read on the matter was supported by a presentation from Lieutenant Channing Taylor of the Florida Highway Patrol, who noted telltale signs of marijuana use to ascertain potential impairment.

These include the product’s odor and visual evidence of “shake,” a slang term for loose flower residue, along with whether people had problems opening windows or doors on their vehicles, and “their inability to follow simple directions.”

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