8 things for spine surgeons to know for Thursday — Feb. 2, 2017

Spine

Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for Feb. 2, 2017.

Jury: Concurrent spine surgeries did not cause patient's paralysis
On Jan. 30, 2017, a Boston jury determined a Massachusetts General Hospital spine surgeon's concurrent surgery schedule in 2012 did not result in a patient's quadriplegia, The Boston Globe reported. The Suffolk Superior Court jury found that Kirkham Wood, MD, violated informed consent by not telling the patient he would be performing two surgeries during the same time period. The jury did not find a connection between Dr. Wood's split time and the patient's paralysis, however.

Zimmer Biomet enjoys a 106% increase in 2016 earnings
Zimmer Biomet has announced its fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2016. Zimmer Biomet reported fourth quarter net sales of $2.013 billion, which translates to a 4.1 percent increase from 2015. The company reported full-year 2016 earnings totaling $302.9 million, an increase of 106 percent compared to 2015's earnings.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awards 30 research grants
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, gave 30 researchers the R35 Research Program Award. The award provides grants to fund research for five years with a potential three-year extension available. See who won here.

Cleveland Clinic resident Dr. Suha Abushamma barred from re-entering US under President Trump's executive order
On Jan. 27, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration. Under the order, Suha Abushamma, MD, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic, was detained, ProPublica reported. She has an H-1B visa for "specialty occupations" workers. When she hit ground in New York on Jan. 28, 2017, after visiting Saudi Arabia, she discovered she could either voluntarily leave the United States and withdraw her visa, or be forcibly removed from the country. She holds a Sudanese passport.

Exactech sells spine assets to ChoiceSpine
Knoxville, Tenn.-based ChoiceSpine acquired Gainesville, Fla.-based Exactech's spine products business. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the divestiture. Exactech will now be able to focus on core extremity and large joint segment investments.

55% of hospitals have physicians on salary
Houston-based Rice University research shows more physicians are contracting with hospitals through various agreements, but the shift to tighter physician-hospital integration is more complex than originally expected. The share of hospitals with physicians on salary rose from 44 percent in 2008 to 55 percent in 2015 while looser forms of physician-hospital integration decreased in prominence.

Wolters Kluwer, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons partner to release Spine Injuries in Athletes
Wolters Kluwer and AAOS released Spine Injuries in Athletes, which is designed to help athletes suffering from spine injuries understand their recovery process. Andrew C. Hecht, MD, edited the book.

Hospital employment vs. private practice — Orthopedic surgeons take note of pros and cons
Time Magazine reports that orthopedists earn the highest salaries of anyone in the medical field, with an average annual salary of $443,000. However, a physician's decision to enter a private practice or seek employment at a hospital will ultimately impact his or her salary and career path. Orthopedic surgeons who are partners in a private practice earn roughly $480,000, while orthopedic surgeons working in hospitals earn $396,000.

 

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