Editor's Note A malpractice case involving a 69-year-old man undergoing an endoscopy at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) spotlights the risks of managing high-comorbidity patients outside a hospital setting. According to a May 13 report in Anesthesiology News, the patient experienced a hypoxic event that led to permanent brain injury…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a series of early alerts this month regarding high-risk recalls from several leading medical device makers, citing patient safety risks ranging from pump failures to vascular complications. These alerts highlight issues with products from Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) Abiomed unit,…

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Editor's Note At least 160 million people worldwide are unable to receive essential surgical care each year, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) most affected, News Medical Life Sciences July 15 reports. The study, published in The Lancet and led by the University of Birmingham’s NIHR Global Health Research Unit…

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Editor's Note Baxter has issued a correction notice for its Novum IQ Large Volume Pump (LVP) after identifying a serious risk of underinfusion linked to the device’s standby mode and power-off conditions. First published on April 24 on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website and subsequently reported by Healthcare…

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Takeaways • US surgeons have no mandated retirement age. According to the Aging Surgeon Program, “a patient death or serious negative event are currently the only things that prompt action to prevent a surgeon from practicing.” • Research on aging-related decline is clear, but nuanced, showing rates and scope vary…

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Editor's Note Female surgeons achieve better long-term outcomes for surgical patients—especially for female patients—according to a large national study published April 23 in JAMA Surgery. Using US Medicare data from over 2.2 million older adults, researchers found that patients of female surgeons had lower mortality rates and, for women, fewer…

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Editor's Note New research offers a potential explanation for why some patients retain toxic metals long after undergoing an MRI. Published in the journal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the findings show that gadolinium contrast agents used in MRI scans may react with common dietary compounds to form harmful metal nanoparticles in…

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Editor's Note Overreliance on overtime and agency nurse staffing can significantly increase the risk of pressure ulcers and, in the case of agency hours, perioperative hemorrhage or hematoma, according to research published April 2 in JAMA Network Open.   Using data from 70 US hospitals between 2019 and 2022, researchers…

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Editor's Note Reducing the negative influence of implicit bias requires system-level interventions to ensure procedures align with best practices for all patients, according to results of new research on outcomes for vascular surgery patients. Published February 26 in JAMA Surgery, the study showed that implicit racial bias among vascular specialists…

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Editor's Note A March 4 study in JAMA Network Open underscores the persistence of the “weekend effect,” a surgical care phenomenon in which the risk of postoperative complications, readmissions and mortality rises immediately before the weekend. The research suggests variations in staffing, resource availability, and care coordination may contribute to…

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