neonatal heart surgery without anesthetic

[Ryan124]

maybe this was common knowledge to everyone here, but I recently learned that because the american medical community used to think that infants weren't capable of feeling pain, open heart surgery was conducted on newborns without anesthesia until 1987. Why are we to trust american doctors if they could stupidly assume that babies don't feel pain? It wasn't until very recently that they finally conceded that "evidence shows" that babies do feel pain.

http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/

[isabchi]

[BookGoddess]

[Yulia_R]

Yep, I've heard about that. Very shocking. American doctors seem to be REALLY behind in some things that make common sense.

For example, in Russia a child will never be given a vaccine if they are not 100% well. Kids with some medical conditions or just those who get shick often have medical exemptions. Babies are being folowed up over the phone (by a doctor or a nurse) to make sure they don't have a side affect.

In Russia they NEVER did x-rays for pregnant women while in the US it was a "normal" prenatal care until ultrasounds came to the picture.

My mom was studing to be a nurse (in Russia) in 1960-1963 and she said that they learned that babies DO feel pain and all the sergeries were done on babies under GA.

I'm not saying americans doctors aren't great in some fields, thee ARE. They can put one together quite liturally from peices. But they are horrible when it comes to simple things and plain common sense.

[Hopesmommy]

I read that a couple of years ago in Time magazine. Made me sick to my stomach.

[blackapple]

That is just terrible! Ugh!