Bush to Delay Anesthesia Rule

The Bush administration announced Thursday that it would delay--and ultimately undo--a government rule approved by President Clinton that would have allowed nurses in most states to administer anesthesia to elderly patients without being supervised by a doctor.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said his department will write a new rule that would restore a long-standing Medicare requirement that nurse anesthetists may administer anesthesia only when a doctor is present.

But Thompson, who shares President Bush’s enthusiasm for giving more autonomy to states, said the new rule would enable governors to bypass that requirement if their state already has a law allowing nurse anesthetists to work alone--and if local health care experts agree that such independence would benefit patients.

Bush aides said they would postpone for another six months the change envisioned by Clinton, which already has been deferred as part of the new administration’s reconsideration of dozens of regulations adopted during the final weeks of Clinton’s presidency.