Sabatino Bianco, MD, director of the Trinity Mother Frances Neuroscience Institute in Tyler, TX, recently began performing an innovative procedure, the endoscopic transsphenoidal hypophysectomy, or ETH. The latest example of minimally invasive surgery, the procedure allows the removal of pituitary tumors through the nasal cavity. In this podcast, Bianco discusses ETH and the technology involved.
The case against Medtronic that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court has wide-ranging implications for patients, doctors and device makers. Medtronic asserts that because the FDA has a rigorous approval process for medical devices, federal law "preempts" it from state claims relating to a device's safety and effectiveness. Lower courts have agreed.