Rupert Grint, the young actor who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, is considered fully recovered from his bout of swine flu (H1N1) but his illness serves as a reminder that the virus is not picky. Grint is an excellent example of how the flu can affect the young and healthy along with those who are already compromised by illness.

Surgery patients, if your incision has not closed, or you aren't feeling back to your usual self, you are among the "compromised" who are more likely to catch the flu, even the regular flu. In addition to protecting your incision, washing your hands frequently is the best protection you can get against the flu, swine or otherwise.

So what should you do after surgery? Wash your hands frequently and call your family physician or surgeon if you notice any flu symptoms, including the chills or a fever. Even if it isn't the flu, those are symptoms you should report after having surgery, so it is far better to be safe than sorry!

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Diprivan, also known as Propofol, is a powerful sedative frequently used in the operating room environment as part of anesthesia. It is readily available to anesthesiologists as part of routine patient care, but it is also becoming a deadly problem for the doctors as abuse of the drug increases.

The problem is so severe that the May issue of Anesthesia News highlighted the problem, noting that 1 in 5 anesthesiology residency programs reported at least one case of abuse. What makes this type of drug abuse even more dangerous is the narrow therapeutic window, meaning that there is a very narrow margin between a dose that works and a dose that can kill.

Death from Diprivan abuse is not unheard of, it is believed that 40% of medical residents who abuse the drug die from an overdose.

Diprivan is a very short acting drug, meaning that the sedative effects don't last more than a few minutes. This short window means that abusers who obtain the drug will often inject themselves repeatedly, in some cases 50-100 times in the course of a drug using binge.

Researchers report that they studied 29 cases of diprivan abuse, 16 involved residents, 6 were fully credentialed physicians, and 3 nurse anesthetists. In the last five years, according to the article, 9 deaths have been reported amongst medical staff due to Diprivan abuse.

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A new source, nurse Cherilyn Lee, has come forward with information that Michael Jackson repeatedly requested Diprivan in the days prior to his death. Diprivan is a powerful sedative that is typically used in the ICU and surgery settings, but only under carefully controlled conditions.

Diprivan, also known as Propofol, is typically used to relax patients so a breathing tube can be inserted for surgery or to help patients tolerate being on the ventilator in the ICU setting. The drug is a first choice for many physicians as it wears off very quickly, allowing caregivers more control over the level of sedation that is obtained. Diprivan is also very unique in its appearance, it is blended in a fat emulsion that makes it look like milk, making it look as though a milk IV is being administered.

What is most alarming about this report is that patients who receive the drug are very closely observed, always on a heart monitor and typically on a ventilator or being placed on a ventilator immediately after administration of the drug. Diprivan can easily sedate a patient to the point where their breathing is altered, or even stopped, depending upon the dosage given. If a patient on a ventilator is fighting against the ventilator, this makes it easier to provide breathing assistance, but in a patient who is not on a ventilator the results can be disastrous.

It has not been confirmed that Jackson took this drug, which is given per IV, but confirmation that he did take it would certainly explain his unexpected death.

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The question of an autopsy after surgery is a delicate one. When a patient dies during a surgical procedure, unless the procedure was done as a last ditch effort to save their life, the death is typically a shock to friends and family. For this reason, the fact that an autopsy may be necessary can be shocking and cause dismay or upset.

Generally speaking, if a patient dies during surgery, an autopsy is typically performed. This is done at the discretion of the local medical examiner (the physician who performs autopsies) or the coroner (the elected official who runs the medical examiners office who may or may not be a medical examiner himself).

Why should an autopsy even be considered? It is important for everyone involved, including the anesthesia provider and the surgeon to know what happened. Was the death a result of natural causes? What it caused by a reaction to anesthesia? Was there a surgical error that caused bleeding? There are many reasons that a patient could die during surgery and an autopsy is very likely to be necessary in determining the actual cause of death.

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