Editor's Note Cardinal Health is voluntarily recalling 9.1 million potentially contaminated surgical gowns, 7.7 million of which were distributed to 2,807 facilities across the country, the January 22 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The company took the action after learning of unsanitary environmental conditions at a plant in China that manufacturers…

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Editor's Note Medicare may be overpaying surgeons for postoperative care they provide to patients, according to a new Rand Corporation analysis in the January 23 New England Journal of Medicine. The authors of the analysis suggest that federal officials should incorporate ways to more objectively measure the amount of postoperative…

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Editor's Note Medline Industries has not operated its Waukegan, Illinois, sterilization facility since December 13, 2019, when it was temporarily closed because it couldn’t meet Illinois’ new state standards for ethylene oxide, the January 21 MedTech Dive reports. A Lake County Health Department update on January 17 says Medline began…

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Editor's Note The timing of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is important to optimize its benefits, but 90% of patients are waiting too long to have it and getting less benefits, and some 25% of patients are having it prematurely when the benefits are  minimal, this study finds. Of 3,417 knees…

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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…

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Editor's Note The effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in managing pain, healing, and recovery after bone fracture depends on when you take them, this study from McGill University finds. The researchers found that NSAIDs are most effective in promoting postoperative healing when taken during the active phase of the…

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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…

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Editor's Note In this article, the American College of Surgeons and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, which launched the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) in 2016, announce that they are expanding the scope…

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Editor's Note The 2020 OR Business Management Conference offers a chance to make a difference in someone’s life during the Build-a-Wheelchair® activity on Tuesday, January 28, from 3 to 5 pm. Participants work in teams to assemble, test, and decorate wheelchairs for donation to American veterans. Attendees are urged to…

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Editor's Note Though many self-help books advise people to find their passion, this is terrible advice, says LaRae Quy in the January 15 issue of SmartBrief/Leadership. Passion is a “hedonistic approach to life,” that is popular right now, she says. People think they need to be passionate about their jobs…

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