CDC announces first US case of coronavirus from China
Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 21 confirmed the first case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from China in the state of Washington. The patient recently returned from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of pneumonia caused by this virus has been ongoing since…
FDA: Quality issues with Cardinal Health surgical gowns, packs
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 16 announced that Cardinal Health has alerted it customers to potential quality issues affecting some of its Level 3 surgical gowns and PreSource procedural packs that contain the gowns. Cardinal Health and the FDA recommend that customers immediately discontinue use…
Study challenges concerns about HRRP
Editor's Note This study from the division of cardiology at Dallas’ University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, challenges concerns about Medicare’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP)--ie, that it leaves patients more vulnerable and increases postdischarge mortality rates. Analyzing inpatient and outpatient…
Joint Commission announces new website design
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on January 15 that it had launched its new website design late last year, with new features that include: a single sign-on for the multiple sites of the Joint Commission enterprise improved mobile viewing and navigation dynamic content organized according to care setting, healthcare…
Reproductive hazards for female surgeons in the OR
Editor's Note Reproductive hazards are present in the OR and may contribute to pregnancy complications and infertility in female surgeons, this review finds. Hazards include radiation, surgical smoke, working conditions, sharps injuries, anesthetic gases, and intraoperative use of toxic agents. Studies comparing female surgeons with the general population show increased…
Recycling program evolves to sustain gains in waste reduction
Approximately 5.9 million tons of waste annually comes from the healthcare industry, and one-third of that waste comes directly from the OR. Each year, an increasing number of disposable products are used in the OR. To address this dilemma, an OR recycling performance improvement committee was formed at Massachusetts General…
FDA: Class I recall of Medfusion 4000 Syringe Pumps
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on December 19, 2019, identified the recall by Smiths Medical ASD, Inc of its Medfusion 4000 Syringe Pumps as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of malfunctioning low-battery alarms, which may lead to an interruption of therapy. The…
FDA: Class I recall of LivaNova VNS Therapy SenTiva Generator
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on January 2 identified the recall by LivaNova of its VNS Therapy SenTiva Generator System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of an unintended reset error that causes the system to stop delivering vagus nerve stimulation therapy…
First-year analysis of OR Black Box study
Editor's Note In this first-year analysis of a data capture system called the OR Black Box, frequent intraoperative errors, events, variation in surgeons’ technical skills, and a high amount of environmental distractions were identified. In 132 patients having elective laparoscopic general surgery: auditory distractions occurred a median of 138 times…
FDA workshop: Role of AI in radiological imaging
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on December 30 announced a public workshop on the “Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence [AI] in Radiological Imaging, which will take place February 25-26, 2020, at the Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. The workshop will include discussions on…
