Report: Southfield man dies during colonoscopy after Beaumont outsourced anesthesiology service

FOX 2 - A 51-year-old Southfield man is dead after undergoing a colonoscopy at Beaumont Royal Oak, that according to a report from Deadline Detroit 

It happened January 21st, a few weeks after the hospital outsourced the management of its anesthesiology services to Northstar anesthesia.

According to the report, the patient was intubated for the procedure and stopped breathing when the tube was removed.  A Northstar anesthesiologist was called to help reintubate the patient. The procedure failed.  

An emergency team was called to revive the man, but the team arrived too late-- he’d been without a pulse for 30 minutes. 

"For a routine screening colonoscopy it would not be routine for most of us to intubate the patient at all," said Dr, Karen Sibert. "Usually these procedures are just done under sedation under an IV."

Sibert has practiced anesthesiology for more than 30 years and is a former president of the California Society of Anesthesiologists.

FOX 2: "How often do people pass away during colonoscopies?"

"That’s something that should never happen," she said. "We would classify that as a 'never event.'"

Beaumont released a statement saying: "We mourn the loss of our patient, extend our deepest sympathy to his family… we also automatically launch an in-depth, clinical and objective peer review process if a patient unexpectedly passes away. this peer review process always allows our medical team of experts to discuss and evaluate the patient’s care in detail and identify opportunities to learn from challenging situations."

A Northstar spokesperson said:

"Northstar has been providing anesthesia services in the Detroit area and Michigan since 2015 and at Beaumont's southern hospitals for the last five months…Northstar anesthesiologists and CRNAS, whether veterans of the hospitals we serve, new recruits, or temporary staff, are highly qualified, highly skilled, and credentialed through Beaumont's rigorous vetting process." 

The full statement can be read below: 

"We express our deepest sympathy to the deceased’s loved ones. Health privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on any patient incident.

NorthStar has been providing anesthesia services in the Detroit area and Michigan since 2015 and at Beaumont’s southern hospitals for the last five months. The vast majority of our physicians and CRNAs at Beaumont are deeply rooted in their local communities, and some had previously worked at Beaumont for decades. Beaumont turned to NorthStar to manage both CRNAs and anesthesiologists under one organization to follow national best practices as anesthesiologists were previously employees of a different anesthesia management company.

"Contrary to the story’s false assertions, for example, Beaumont staffing and coverage models have not changed at all since NorthStar took over.

"NorthStar anesthesiologists and CRNAs, whether veterans of the hospitals we serve, new recruits, or temporary staff, are highly qualified, highly skilled, and credentialed through Beaumont’s rigorous vetting process. The majority of our anesthesiologists at the Beaumont North facilities are fellowship-trained, and they have proven track records for providing excellent quality care. In fact, 21 of the 29 anesthesiologists we’ve recruited who are new to Beaumont in the north are fellowship-trained. In addition, more than 98 percent of our total CRNAs across Beaumont Health were previous Beaumont employees, as were more than 75 percent of the anesthesiologists at Beaumont, Royal Oak."