Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research Seminar

featuring

Dr. Johanna Schoen, Distinguished Professor of History, Rutgers University

“The Pain Debate in Neonatology”

📅 Tuesday, April 7 12:00pm

🏢💻 Conference Room 120, 112 Paterson Street, New Brunswick & Via Zoom

Until the mid-1980s, most premature infants undergoing surgery in the US did not receive anesthesia or any kind of pain control. In the mid-1980’s, parents of NICU infants mounted a publicity campaign to draw attention to this practice and a handful of clinicians began to conduct research demonstrating that premature infants felt pain and could be safely medicated. But it took another decade for clinical practice to change in a meaningful way. This talk will analyze the practice and debate surrounding unanesthetized infant surgery.