Kate Scannell, MD

By Dr. Kate Scannell, Syndicated Columnist
First Published in Print: 01/07/2012

Is it OK for an anesthesiologist to play Angry Birds on his iPhone while administering anesthesia during a gallbladder surgery? During your gallbladder surgery?

What do you think about a surgeon voice-dialing her colleagues or chatting with family during the operation?

Although we've inhabited the Digital Age for many years, only recently have we begun to examine how it might affect us personally as patients and doctors, and whether overall patient safety and care have actually improved.

This inquiry is long overdue, and, as recent studies suggest, urgent.  Read More 

By Dr. Kate Scannell
First Published in Print: 07/10/2011

A FEW weeks ago, I visited a hospitalized friend who was recuperating from hip-replacement surgery. While unpacking the deli items I promised to bring, he said, "Too bad! You just missed my orthopedic surgeon. He invented my hip replacement!"

"Really?" I said, almost spilling a carton of matzo ball soup.

"Yeah, he designed and patented it!" my friend bragged. "And he uses it in all of his hip surgeries!"

But I didn't feel as hip-hip-hooray about the news. An orthopedic surgeon inserting his patented, royalty-generating medical device into my friend's body as though it were an ATM card?

As a rheumatologist who'd cared for many arthritic patients needing joint replacements, I knew that the medical-device market was already steeped with tried-and-true hip replacement models. How could my friend have possibly evaluated the safety and efficacy of his surgeon's new -- and, undoubtedly, more expensive -- device? Was he aware that it had no known or knowable track record? What authentic choice did he truly have when consulting with his one-hip-wonder surgeon?  Read More