Surgery
News, opinions and meeting coverage in surgery.
Derms Want NP/PA Practice Limits
NPs and PAs who bill Medicaid as independent practitioners are more likely to bill for a dermatology visit than for any other office-based service -- so much so that in 2012, 55% of their Medicaid billings were for derm codes, to which dermatologists claim scope of practice violations.
Aug 15, 2014
CCSVI Practices Suboptimal but Patients Don't Mind
DALLAS -- Canadian multiple sclerosis patients who left the country to undergo the controversial procedure called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) often received poor pre- and postoperative care, but most were still relatively satisfied overall, a researcher reported here.
Jun 01, 2014
Lung Foam Disappoints in COPD
SAN DIEGO -- A trial of hydrogel-based lung volume reduction therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated by emphysema failed to show consistent enough results and has been abandoned by the agent's developer, researchers said here.
May 20, 2014
Medtronic's Infuse Moves From Operating Room to Courtroom
An investigative series by /Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been tracking the spinal fusion device called Infuse in a 4-year-long series and now reports how a flawed FDA system for device approval may have led to a long string of adverse events culminating in thousands of liability suits.
May 18, 2014