What Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos Got Wrong About Diagnostics

For Fibronostics

It was a promise too good to be true – a bread maker-sized box that could analyze a single small blood sample for 200 different illnesses and conditions.

The idea was so attractive and the inventor so convincing that such sophisticated investors as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the Walton family, Betsy DeVos and others invested upwards of $100 million each to get in on the ground floor of what was perceived to be a Silicon Valley startup that would disrupt healthcare the way Apple disrupted mobile phones. (published site)

Spine surgery society makes recommendations for bone graft substitutes

For Advanced Orthopedics

The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) has published a new policy statement on bone grafting. 

An expert panel looked at alternatives to autologous bone grafting (ABG) and reviewed the available literature for five current strategies and techniques for bone grafting and compared them for safety and efficacy. They also compared the methods by regulatory approval pathway and quality of the clinical evidence supporting them. Their findings appear in the Feb. 2019 International Journal of Spine Surgery, the official ISASS journal. (published site)

A group of international radiology societies take aim at AI ethics

For PARCA 

PARCA eNews – Mar. 1, 2019 – The American College of Radiology, European Society of Radiology, Radiology Society of North America, Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine, European Society of Medical Imaging Informatics, Canadian Association of Radiologists, and American Association of Physicists in Medicine collaborated on a 34-page draft statement concerning ethical issues surrounding the use of AI in radiology.

The preliminary draft has not been endorsed by any of the sponsoring societies, rather the draft was published to spur debate and discussion among all interested parties, who are encouraged to submit comments by April 7, 2019. (published site)