Heavy Sedation Saved People From Covid–At a High Price

In the early, scary days of the coronavirus pandemic, before vaccines, patients hospitalized with severe cases were often put on ventilators to keep them alive. That invasive treatment saved a lot of people. But the heavy sedation that sometimes went along with it has left many of them with debilitating side-effects. Doctors are now taking a hard look at how they’ve used sedation–and rewriting the rules for treating patients who require it.

Dr. Wes Ely, a critical care physician with Vanderbilt University and a sedation expert, joins this episode to talk about the lessons he and his colleagues have learned from Covid.

Jason Gale, a senior editor and biosecurity correspondent at Bloomberg who has reported extensively on the pandemic, also joins to tell the story of one woman whose life was saved, but may never be the same.

Learn more about this story: https://bloom.bg/3VCOH1h

Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.