The Litigation Center of the American Medical Association (AMA) and State Medical Societies and the American Society of Anesthesiologists recently filed an amicus brief urging the State of New Hampshire Supreme Court to uphold a New Hampshire Board of Medicine decision that stops individuals from identifying themselves as anesthesiologists if they aren’t licensed as such, according to a news release on the AMA's website.
The New Hampshire Association of Nurse Anesthetists is asking the state’s high court to throw out the state’s nursing board decision in late 2018 that allowed certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) to refer to themselves as "nurse anesthesiologists." The association feels that the term misleads patients and that only licensed physicians that hold an MD or DO and have extensive specialty training in anesthesiology should refer to themselves as anesthesiologists.
The AMA Litigation Center brief tells the court that an M.D. or D.O. usually has twice the educational years and five times the clinical hours of a CRNA and that there is a significant difference in the depth of their education.
“An anesthesiologist has been educated, trained, tested and retested countless times, with years and years of classroom and clinical experience to ensure the development and maintenance of the medical expertise and split-second critical decision-making skills required to address immediate and long-term patient care needs,” the brief stated. “CRNAs, on the other hand, are trained to work within the physician-led care team, under physician supervision. Through an amicus, AANA [American Association of Nurse Anesthetists] argues the CRNAs should be viewed as an ‘independent anesthesiology practitioner.’ That is simply false.”
