Other Articles

AAOS Political Action Committee
Active players in the orthopedic field know the importance of the AAOS Political Action Committee (PAC). On the cusp of hot topics affecting physicians and patients, the AAOS PAC works diligently to provide data to members of Congress and improve the present and future of orthopedics.

Who ARE These Guys?
Every 60 seconds or so a surgeon tears the cover off an Integra LifeSciences package. Quietly, this company has become the seventh largest medical implant manufacturer serving orthopedic surgeons in the world. Where to now? Would you believe $1 billion in two years? How about $2 billion by 2015?

Redemption in a Mechanism of Failure: The TOPS™ Story
Impliant’s TOPS™ System had a “squeaker” in its clinical study. After a voluntary suspension of the study by the company and finding the mechanism of failure, the FDA has approved a resumption of the study. What insider lessons were learned? Class starts here.

What Complaint is Numero Uno in the PearlDiver Database?
The answer may surprise you. Is it sore backs, aching hips, sore knees, fingers? PearlDiver details 3.8 million spine related complaints—complete with demographic information and charging information. But that’s not #1. PearlDiver also lists 3.5 million large joint complaints. Sorry, still not #1. What could the most common orthopedic complaint possibly be? To get the surprising answer…read on.

What the Knees Need: Baby Boomers and Their Options
Knee patients often show up at the doctor’s office with recurrent mechanical symptoms. It is up to the orthopedist, says Dr. Giles R. Scuderi, Director and orthopedic surgeon with the Insall, Scott & Kelly Institute in Manhattan, to thoroughly assess the patient and then determine if nonoperative treatment will do, or if the person needs a unicompartmental or total knee procedure.

Physician: Report Thyself
The government says its healthcare anti-fraud efforts are working and it wants to encourage physicians to self-report possible fraud. How well did the government do in 2007 and what about those deferred-prosecution deals with undisclosed evidence? Read about it here.

Revising the Statistics
The word that orthopedic patients least want to hear is “revision.” Who, in the universe of large joint patients, do we expect to see on the receiving end of this news? If you guessed “the elderly” you would have been wrong. The reality of who is hearing “revision” may come as a surprise. Read what we found when probing PearlDiver’s database.

Where Is Ben Now? Trends in Venture Capital
What is being funded by VCs and why? First of all, spine is having to share the spotlight, says Gary Stevenson, Managing Partner at MB Venture Partners, LLC. Here Stevenson outlines what constitutes an attractive investment…he also highlights issues that are affecting the distribution of VC funding.

The Hounds of Wall Street
Conventional wisdom on Wall Street is that ArthroCare is in a bare-knuckle fight to the finish with short sellers. Which leaves us with the dominating question: If ArthroCare is essentially a “lame duck” growth stock, then why are sales, earnings, and the stock price contradicting the short seller’s dire predictions and even outperforming consensus analyst forecasts? We have the answer.

The Era of “Tell Me Right Now” Dawns at FDA
The FDA wants the next phase of post-market oversight to change from self reporting to proactive surveillance. How? Through the Sentinel Initiative. Read what it means to device manufacturers here.

The Day After Tomorrow: Complication Rates and Instrumentation Trends in Posterior Lumbar Fusion
Could PearlDiver be the Nostradamus of spinal instrumentation? This most commonly performed surgery on the lumbar region of the spine increases fusion rates and improves spinal stability—but what about complications? Using PearlDiver’s database we find the answers. Are you ready for some quatrains about what happens next?

You Try It. No You Try It First: New Technology Adoption
What are the forces working for and against new technology adoption? Youth versus age, risk taking versus conservatism, and the economic realities of the day, says Dr. Rick Guyer, President of the Texas Back Institute.

Cheaper, Thinner, Faster, Stronger
In this, the second of our series of three articles on innovation, we tackle the question: How do you measure medical technology innovation? While difficult, measuring innovation is NOT impossible. Why? Well to start, and in the immortal words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “We know it when we see it.”

SAS Crosses the Rubicon in Miami Beach
The SAS 8th Annual Global Symposium in Miami Beach may have crossed the Rubicon. How? Read about the Society’s opportunities for growth and collaboration as its new President lays out a vision for the future.

Arthroscopic Treatment for Tennis Elbow: Coming on Strong
“Tennis elbow” or lateral epicondylitis is, according to our PearlDiver database, one of the most reported diagnosis for problems with the elbow. Lately clinical evidence has shown that arthroscopic treatment for tennis elbow can provide long-term stability and, in most cases, return of the elbow to its optimal function. Check out the data from PearlDiver.

Do Republicans Make Better Orthopedic Surgeons?
A recent Nature Neuroscience journal study of the decision making differences between liberals and conservatives appears to argue in favor of Republican surgeons! Which, frankly, explains a lot—to BOTH sides and, to stretch an analogy almost to its breaking point, it may also explain why McCain’s health care plan is different from Obama’s. Read OUR take here.

"Sound of Music" Turns to Greek Tragedy for Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew’s Swiss (mis)adventure with Plus Orthopaedics is turning into a Greek Tragedy. The company’s whole acquisition strategy is being called into question. Read how CEO Illingworth explained it to the brutal British press.

“Dear John Letter” for Hip Resurfacing?
“Dear John H. Resurfacing: I hope this little note finds you well. We certainly have had some great times and, gosh, I’ll never forget those wonderful moments when the FDA approved your PMA. We’ve just celebrated our second anniversary together and, well, I’m just not feeling the magic anymore….” Two years after FDA approval, how happy are orthopedists with hip resurfacing? Read our analysis here.

In the Beginning, There Was the End: Manuscripts 101
Dr. Paul Manske, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Hand Surgery, shares his thoughts and experience on the details of shepherding a manuscript through publication.

Did ConMed Get Re-Wired?
Ever hear about the neurosurgeon who used an $80 Bosch power drill to do brain surgery? It really happened. Surgeons like their power tools. Increasingly they also like a particular line of sterilizeable power tools from ConMed’s Linvatec unit. Did ConMed get re-wired? We have the details here.

Healthy discs allow the spine to move…healthy companies allow experts to move in. Facet Solutions, Inc. is doing just that. The company has added industry veteran Mike McCarthy to its Board of Directors.

In the news release, Geoff Pardo, President and CEO of Facet Solutions, Inc., stated, “Mr. McCarthy is a terrific addition to our Board, bringing a wealth of knowledge in the spine industry which will assist Facet Solutions throughout the clinical and commercialization phases of the company. Mr. McCarthy has exhibited a track record of success, most recently as President and CEO of Endius which was sold to Zimmer in 2007. Throughout his 29-year orthopedic and spine industry career he has held many executive level positions, including Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Implex through its acquisition by Zimmer and several executive positions with Johnson & Johnson.”

Facet Solutions, Inc. has developed the Anatomic Facet Replacement System (AFRS™), an investigational device in the U.S., to provide patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and facet degeneration a motion-preserving alternative to lumbar spinal fusion. As indicated by the company, the AFRS procedure includes replacement of the diseased facet joint with an anatomic implant that restores the natural motion, stability, and balance to the lumbar spine.

Commenting to OTW about his experience, McCarthy noted, “During my 29 years in medical devices I've developed an ability to identify unique product innovations that can significantly improve patient outcomes (cross-keeled tibial implants, Trabecular Metal™, MIS technologies). I also believe I'm a good judge of character and like to associate myself with quality people that have a vision for the future, a passion for their business and the courage to lead. I have found all of these elements at Facet Solutions.”

“I have also been lucky enough to learn from some of the best and brightest in the business, like Alex Khowaylo who was one of the founders of Osteonics and Implex. From my start at J&J I learned the importance of living by the Corporate Credo and our responsibility to others: patients, doctors, nurses, employees, community, and stockholders. Perhaps most importantly, I owe much to the many orthopedic surgeons that have dedicated themselves to improving the quality of life for so many of us patients.”

He also told OTW, “The current ‘motion preservation’ devices in spine address the spine as either an anterior column problem or a posterior column problem. The clinical results from the first-generation artificial discs prove that motion preservation of the spine is a segmental problem (disc and facets). The artificial disc replacement companies need to address the posterior column as well as the anterior column. The facets are two elements of a three-part motion complex. People like to say we should be treating the spine like the other articulating joints in the body (i.e., the hip and knee). We should learn that fusion in those joints didn't work well and that motion devices have given patients an improved quality of life that fusion could never match. However, it is important to note that not all big joint replacements were highly successful. The unipolar hips provided motion but didn't match the success of today's hip implants. The lesson I learn from history is not to ignore the sum of the parts. Unipolars failed because they only addressed the femur to the detriment of the acetabulum. If you ignore the facets, history will repeat itself. The bottom line is that Facet Solutions is a company with smart and passionate people, developing a great product with a real clinical need and a heavily fortified IP portfolio. It is designing an implant that is anatomic and that I am confident will become a key technology in the treatment of a segmental problem.”