Drug Name Policy Detailed, Origin of CO Unveiled Here

Editor’s Note: In the Summer issue of the Newsletter, there were both a case report of apparent CO toxicity involving the interaction of volatile anesthetics and carbon dioxide absorbent in a circle breathing system and an explanatory discussion of this phenomenon. In the original typescript versions of both articles, reference was made to the anesthetic Suprane (desflurane) by the authors as part of the case report.

In keeping with the Newsletter editorial policy that has existed since the Newsletter was founded in 1986, reference to any specific brand-name product was deleted. It has been and will be policy to avoid as much as possible any content that could be interpreted as either endorsement of or warning about any specific brand-name product, as that is not the intended purpose of the Newsletter or the Foundation.

Further discussion and understanding of the reported observations appear for the first time anywhere in this issue of the Newsletter. E.I. Eger, M.D., a recognized investigator of halogenated volatile anesthetics and a consultant to Ohmeda, refers in the beginning of the article to “a potential hazard that attends the administration of modern halogenated volatile anesthetics, including the newest of these, desflurane.” Because of the unusual opportunity to present the first public announcement of important new findings with significant patient safety implications and, also, for clarity, an exception to the general Newsletter editorial policy is now being made in ” case.