Page 42 - 2022 Risk Basics - Anesthesiology

SVMIC Risk Basics: Anesthesiology

supervision. However, other states require physician
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supervision.

Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on your perspective),
the law is often slow to catch up to the realities of the

marketplace. This is true with respect to the liability of CRNAs
and the physicians who supervise them. Until very recently,

physicians were always sued in cases where CRNA negligence

was alleged. In fact, in some cases, the CRNA was not named
– only the physician who had direct or apparent supervision.

These supervising physicians could be either the

anesthesiologist or, if one was not available, the surgeon as he
or she was the only “doctor in the room”. The theories of

liability directed at making the anesthesiologist or surgeon
responsible for the acts of the CRNA include: negligent

supervision, “Captain-of-the-Ship”, contract law, agency,
vicarious liability, and respondeat superior.

Over the last decade, however, with the modernization of

nursing statutes, the broadening scope of CRNA
responsibilities, and prevalence of CRNAs in the marketplace,

the law has begun to recognize that CRNAs can be individually

liable. As you might imagine, with greater responsibility comes
increased risk of liability. All of this is not to say that the

anesthesiologist or surgeon will no longer be sued under some

of the theories listed above, but it does show a shift in the way
CRNAs are viewed by the law, the courts, and the plaintiff

attorneys. Legal treatises have recently been revised to
acknowledge the CRNA’s role in modern anesthesia. American

16 https://www.aana.com/membership/become-a-crna/crna-fact-sheet

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