The surgeon who blogs as Skeptical Scalpel writes that he (she?) is unable to contain him(her)self any longer and then lunges into a review of evidence (or lack thereof) for robotic surgery. You may disagree with Skeptical Scalpel’s decision to be anonymous, but he/she explains: “I’ve been a surgeon for almost 40 years and a surgical department chairman for over 23 of those years. During much of that time, conforming to the n…
Somehow someone added me to the mailing list for news releases from a hospital in Mumbai. How/why this happens, one can only guess. But if they’re going to send ‘em, I may write about ‘em – even though maybe not with the slant the PR folks wanted. The latest news release from them sheds light on how robotic surgery is promoted in other places. Excerpts of the news release: Fastest 50 Robotic Surgeries In 70 days, the spe…
…llboards. The hospitals now say they are reviewing some of their marketing activities. What is odd is that the Massachusetts officials, according to the Globe, would not provide the data about how many patient injuries during robotic surgery had occurred over the past two years – only that the problem was increasing. In a piece headlined, “Salesmen in the Surgical Suite,” The New York Times reports on a man who had “roboti…
Robotic prostatectomy has spread all over the US despite the fact that we don’t have clinical trial data to show that it’s better than traditional open surgery. The marketing of the new, the high-tech, is amplified by news coverage that uses headlines such as the following: Robot doctor – surgery of tomorrow Da Vinci puts magical touch on the prostate Cancer survivors meet lifesaving surgical robot Robotic surgeon’s han…
In December of 2011 I wrote about about New Jersey’s Saint Barnabas medical center promoting its robotic surgery system to holiday shoppers at a New Jersey shopping mall. Then, in December of 2012, I wrote about the mall marketing trend spreading to places around the country. Now, the New Jersey medical center gets more publicity by discussing some of the marketing magic behind the mall-marries-medical center relationship. I thought I̵…
The blogger known only as the Skeptical Scalpel (self-described as a surgeon for 40 years and a surgical department chairman and residency program director for over 23 of those years) continues his thread of posts raising questions about the proliferation of robotic surgery. The latest is entitled “Study: Robotic surgery financials explained.” It’s his take on a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association …
A paper published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality examined the content of information on 400 randomly selected U.S. hospital websites about robotic surgery. Results: “Forty-one percent of hospital websites described robotic surgery. Among these, 37% percent presented robotic surgery on their homepage, 73% used manufacturer-provided stock images or text, and 33% linked to a manufacturer website. Statements of clinical superiority we…
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, as Paul Levy writes on his Not Running A Hospital blog, is a surgery to remove a gall bladder using laparoscopic instruments through holes in the abdomen instead of cutting it open. Lap choles, for short. “So, what do you do if you are a robotic surgery device company that has saturated the marketplace for robot-assisted prostate surgery…? Answer: You try to create a demand for robot lap choles. You dr…
A journalist wrote me: “Ack! Another rah rah rah robotic surgery article, this time in the Times.” The blogging surgeon known as the Skeptical Scalpel tweeted: Skeptical Scalpel @Skepticscalpel ICYMI. Robotic surgery puff piece in the NY Times. http://is.gd/EjhZbe What draws their ire? A New York Times piece, “When Robotic Surgery Leaves Just a Scratch.” It discusses some new robotic surgery approaches, including …
Fox News uses Dr. David Samadi, a New York urologist and “Chief of Robotics” at his NY hospital, as a “medical contributor.” We’ve seen and heard him promote his pet approaches in the past. He did it again this past Sunday, touting his own favorite approach over another approach known as the Cyberknife, along with sidekick physician medical news contributor Dr. Marc Siegel. I asked one of our medical editors, Dr…
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