Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for May 25, 2017.
Medtronic to pay Dr. Mark Barry $23.5M for 2 spine device patent infringements
U.S. District Judge Ron Clark, a Texas federal judge, ordered Medtronic to pay Texas spine surgeon Mark Barry, MD, $23.5 million in a patent infringement case on May 16. Dr. Barry alleged Medtronic infringed his patent: "System and Method for Aligning Vertebrae in the Ameliorating of Aberrant Spinal Column Deviation Conditions." Read more about the case here.
Neurosurgeon wins $88.7k+ in retaliation case against NY hospital over concurrent surgeries
In 2006, neurosurgeon James Holsapple, MD, raised concerns with his former hospital, University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., about a new practice in his department double-booking surgeries. He was allegedly pressured to resign, and then sued the hospital under New York's whistle-blower statute for lost wages. The judge awarded Dr. Holsapple $88,277 in lost wages and his award could exceed $150,000 after adding in estimated interest. Read more about the case here.
ISASS names Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein 2017 president
Last month the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery elected Jeffrey Goldstein, MD, president. Dr. Goldstein is chief of the spine service for education program and director of the spine fellowship program in NYU Langone Medical Center's department of orthopedics. He has served on the ISASS board of directors since 2011.
Warning: Zimmer Biomet voluntarily issues medical device field action for Rosa platforms
Zimmer Biomet issued a voluntary medical device field action for its Rosa robotic devices. Zimmer Biomet recommended users no longer use micromovement functions in isocentric mode during brain surgeries with the Rose Brain 3.0 and Rose One devices. The company is currently creating a software path to fix the movement issue, and plans to release it in August.
Founding member of Scoliosis Research Society Dr. James Holmblad dies
James Holmblad, MD, a spine surgeon and founding member of Scoliosis Research Society, passed away at 95 in February. An obituary appeared for Dr. Holmblad in Spinal Deformity. His clinical practice focused on spinal deformities and he volunteered at outreach clinics in rural upstate New York.
Which spine surgery databases are best?
A new study published in The Spine Journal compares cervical deformity perioperative complications in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database to those reported in a multicenter prospective cervical deformity database. The complication rate was higher — 39.3 percent — in the multicenter database, compared with the NIS database — 9.2 percent. Device-related complications were more common in the NIS group, at 7.1 percent, when compared with the multicenter database, at 1.1 percent. Read more about the database differences here.
Life Spine receives approval to conduct study on open vs. minimally invasive posterior lumbar spine surgery
The Western Institutional Review Board approved a study, which will compare outcomes of open posterior lumbar interbody fusion with midline lumbar interbody fusion, using Life Spine's NAUTILUS Thoracolumbar Pedicle Screw System and CENTERLINE Thoracolumbar Cortical Screw System hardware. Researchers will compare a baseline preoperative Electrodiagnostic Functional Assessment to postoperative EFA tests.
Dr. Joseph Cheng to lead University of Cincinnati neurosurgery department
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine named Joseph Cheng, MD, its new neurosurgery chair, effective July 1. Among his new responsibilities, Dr. Chen will focus on improving postgraduate education as well as boost interactions between neurosurgery and other neuroscience-related departments.