Was Joan Rivers death an anesthetic accident, or human error?
Was Joan Rivers death an anesthetic accident, or human error? Was Joan Rivers death an anesthetic accident, or human error? An estimated 40 million patients are treated with anesthesia per year in this country. The likelihood of a healthy patient dying while under sedation by an anesthesiologist is less than 1 in 200,000. Leading San Francisco anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, Dr. Robert Savala, explains the advanced safety measures of anesthesiology today and how rare it is for a patient like Joan Rivers to experience fatal complications.