The New Old Age: When Is the Surgeon Too Old to Operate?

In the fall of 2015, Dr. Herbert Dardik, chief of vascular surgery at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in New Jersey, nodded off in the operating room. Note that Dr. Dardik, then 80, was not performing the operation. He’d undergone a minor medical procedure himself a few days earlier, so he’d told his patient that… Read More »

8-year-old African child who was flown to the U.S. for surgery by NBA star Dikembe Mutombo has died

(Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for UNICEF) Former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo is mourning the death of the 8-year-old African boy that he flew to the United States earlier this month for surgery to remove a tumor. The child, Matadi Sela Petit of Kinshasa, Congo, died after suffering a “rare and unpredictable genetic reaction to… Read More »

Atul Gawande's company looking to try new products on employees, trial testimony shows

The trial to stop a former Optum employee from working for the healthcare venture formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, has shed light on what the new enterprise intends to do this year. In Massachusetts District Court, David W. Smith, former Optum vice president of Product/Corporate Strategy, said the new company isn’t looking… Read More »

Celebrity ads for diet aids should be banned, says top doctor

Social media companies should ban “damaging” celebrity-endorsed social media ads promoting weight loss aids, England’s top doctor has said. Some celebrities with large followings are promoting products such as diet pills and detox teas on social media. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, argues these products have a damaging effect on the physical and mental… Read More »