In the May 2011 Issue
RoboDoc
Meet the Machine Who May Be Performing Your Next Surgery
by Carolyn Cosmos
Photo: Boulder Community Hospital
Dr. Christopher Pohlman, a physician at Boulder Community Hospital in Colorado, specializes in minimally invasive surgery, operating through tiny openings in his patients. But those incisions aren't done with a traditional scalpel by hand. And Pohlman doesn't hover over the body when the cuts, exploration and surgical repair are done inside his patients.
Rather, his second-hand man — or in this case, machine — does the work while Pohlman guides the robotic "hands" from a high-tech console nearby. The hardest part of doing general surgery with a robot is positioning the patient, Pohlman told The Washington Diplomat. The robot's four long instrument-like arms stretching down from its towering body have to be placed just so. "It's like docking a space station."
Price Palpitations
Exorbitant Drug Costs May Price Out Patients
by Gina Shaw
Photo: BigStock
In January, an injectable form of the drug progesterone, a synthetic hormone used to prevent preterm labor in some 130,000 pregnant women every year, cost as little as $10 from your local pharmacy.
Just three months later, the same drug skyrocketed to $1,500 per dose — although after a public outcry, the price tag dropped to $690 per dose. That's still a 69-fold price increase. Why? Did the drug magically get better? Did manufacturers discover a brand new indication? Nope.
The Food and Drug Administration granted exclusive approval to KV Pharmaceutical to produce the drug under the brand name Makena, designating it an "orphan drug" with seven years of monopoly protection. The agency decided that because the drug is a sterile injectable drug, granting specific approval to a manufacturer under FDA guidelines would offer a greater assurance of safety.
Last Edited on June 22, 2011
