Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Questions Raised About Report On Morcellator By Surgeons' Group
The Wall Street Journal: How Suspect Device Got Surgeon Group’s Blessing
Last May, as controversy mounted over a surgical device called the power morcellator, a professional association for surgeons issued a report defending the tool. A month earlier, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had warned the device risked spreading cancer in surgeries such as hysterectomies. ... Doctors read the report closely for guidance on use of morcellators, which cut up and remove tissue through small incisions. What they didn’t know: An AAGL executive officer who received consulting fees from a morcellator maker had weighed in before publication. (Walker and Levitz, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal: In Image Guided Operating Suites, Surgeons See Real-Time MRI, CT Scans
Surgeons sometimes fly blind when operating on hard-to-reach anatomical parts or hard-to-see conditions. For visual references inside the brain or body, they often rely on images and scans taken before an operation. A growing number of hospitals are equipping operating suites with magnetic resonance imaging, CT scanners and other technology that enables surgeons to scan a patient in real time, without having to move them from the operating table. The resulting real-time 3D visuals—known as “intraoperative imaging”—help surgeons excise tumors and tissue with greater accuracy, reducing risks such as nicked nerves from an errant knife and the potential need for repeat surgery. (Landro, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Remote Patient Monitoring Lets Doctors Spot Trouble Early
[A] merging of wireless technology and medical care is still in its infancy, but health systems that began pilot programs with the technology in recent years say they see signs that it is keeping patients healthier. By enabling doctors to continuously monitor patients, they say, the systems can detect problems well before they grow serious. (Rockoff, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal: How To Make Surgery Safer
Surgery can be risky by its very nature, and the possibility of error or negligence makes it even more so. According to an analysis last year in the journal Patient Safety in Surgery, 46% to 65% of adverse events in hospitals are related to surgery, especially complex procedures. Despite years of prevention efforts, procedures are still performed on the wrong body part and surgical tools are sewn up in patients. Now the movement to make things safer is taking on new urgency, as advocates inside and outside the surgical community push for a range of changes, and the cost of mishaps mounts. (Landro, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Innovation Is Sweeping Through U.S. Medical Schools
Critics have long faulted U.S. medical education for being hidebound, imperious and out of touch with modern health-care needs. The core structure of medical school—two years of basic science followed by two years of clinical work—has been in place since 1910. Now a wave of innovation is sweeping through medical schools, much of it aimed at producing young doctors who are better prepared to meet the demands of the nation’s changing health-care system. (Beck, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal: How To Detect Infectious Diseases Like Ebola Faster
Now a handful of companies have received emergency clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market faster diagnostic tools for Ebola that were in the works when the epidemic in West Africa erupted. One of the tools, from a company called BioFire Defense, uses the same kind of machine—polymerase chain reaction, or PCR—as the test that Ms. Meyler underwent. But BioFire’s system automates much of the process, so results are available in about an hour, instead of the usual four to six. ... Other companies are crafting machines to seek out common diseases. Alere Inc. of Waltham, Mass., has a flu test that delivers results in about 15 minutes, versus about 90 minutes for other tests. (McKay, 2/16)
Kaiser Health News: Figuring Out If A Doctor Is In Your Network Is Harder Than You Think
“Is this doctor in my insurance network?” is part of the litany of questions many people routinely ask when considering whether to see a particular doctor. Unfortunately, in some cases the answer may not be a simple yes or no. (Andrews, 2/17)
