Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a major initiative to reform the US organ transplant system following disturbing findings about organ procurement practices. Fierce Healthcare reported the news July 21. According to the article, the initiative was triggered by a directive from HHS to…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed Medline’s recent Craniotomy Kit recall, Integra LifeSciences’ MicroMyst Applicator recall, and Maquet Critical Care’s recent ventilator recall as Class I, the most severe category indicating serious risk of injury or death. As detailed in a July 22 FDA announcement,…

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Editor's Note Adapting general-purpose humanoid robots already trained on large-scale industrial tasks for use in surgery could provide a solution to burnout, understaffing and other problems. This is the primary takeaway of a July 9 article from UC San Diego detailing the work of robotics expert Michael Yip, who has…

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Editor's Note Surgeons at Duke and Vanderbilt universities have devised simpler methods to retrieve donor hearts after circulatory death, according to a July 16 report from the Associated Press (AP). The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, details successful heart transplants using organs from donors whose hearts…

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Editor's Note Mendaera has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Focalist system, a compact robotic device that aims to improve precision in ultrasound-guided needle-based procedures. Fierce Biotech reported the news July 9. As detailed in the article, Focalist device is intended to assist with a range…

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Editor's Note A robust scheduling model can significantly improve OR efficiency and stability when surgery and recovery times are unpredictable, according to research published in the journal Mathematics. Using a Genetic Algorithm for Robust Scheduling (GARS), the authors demonstrate a practical and computationally efficient method for minimizing makespan across a…

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Editor's Note Research shows using GLP-1 receptor agonists both before and after bariatric surgery is associated with greater total weight loss than surgery alone, according to a July 13 article in MedPage Today. The article focuses on a retrospective analysis of 568 patients presented at ENDO 2025, the annual meeting…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated Integra LifeSciences’ recall of specific Codman Disposable Perforators and Craniotomy Kits a Class 1, the most severe category indicating serious risk of injury or death. As detailed in the agency’s July 16 announcement, the recall of the single-use cranial…

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Editor's Note Although for-profit rehab hospitals have become highly profitable, a recent KFF Health News report highlights serious safety violations, including patient deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning, medication errors, and falls.  Published July 15, the article delves into recent data and inspections of these facilities, particularly those run by…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated recent recalls of Getinge and Maquet’s VasoView HemoPro 2 (VH-4000 and VH-4001) Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting Systems and BD’s Alaris Pump Module model 810 as Class 1, the most severe category indicating serious risk of injury or death. According to…

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