Clarification of news release on use of anesthetic gas and apology to Henry Ford Health

ASA recognizes that a news release issued in late January promoting research related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, done at Henry Ford Health, and presented at an ASA ADVANCE 2023 poster session, has been misinterpreted and resulted in unintended confusion.

The news release said that “anesthesiologists could decrease the amount of anesthetic gas provided during procedures.” It should have been written more specifically to say that “anesthesiologists could decrease fresh gas flow from the anesthesia machine and thereby reduce the amount of greenhouse gas released into the room or vented to the outside atmosphere through the exhaust system, while still providing the same concentration of anesthetic to the patient.” We have since removed the news release and provided corrections to several media outlets. 

ASA sincerely apologizes to Henry Ford Health and its patients for contributing to the impression that the system was decreasing anesthetic gas provided to patients during procedures. That is absolutely not true, and we are sorry for any unintended confusion or anxiety our press release caused.

ASA aims for accuracy in all its communications, content, and resources. As such, ASA removed the news release when this was discovered and provided corrections to several media outlets.