Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1477870
10 SPINE Top 4 neurosurgery residency programs in 2022, per Doximity By Carly Behm Here are the top four neurosurgery residency programs, from Doximity's 2022-2023 Residency Navigator. 1. University of California San Francisco Size: 21 residents 2. Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (Phoenix) Size: 28 residents 3. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) Size: 28 residents 4. University of Washington (Seattle) Size: 21 n 3 cervical disc replacement devices get FDA's pre-market approval By Carly Behm Centinel Spine earned FDA approval for three more Prodisc total disc replacement devices. The newly approved Prodisc C Vivo, Prodisc C Nova and Prodisc C SK are all designed for cervical disc replace- ments, according to a July 13 company news release. They received the FDA's pre-market application approv- al for single-level applications. Prodisc C Vivo and Prodisc C Nova have been used out- side the U.S. since 2009. Prodisc C Vivo is the most used total disc replacement device outside the U.S. The new approvals bring the devicemaker to four total cervical disc replacement devices with PMA approval. n UArizona neurosurgery chair dies after motorcycle collision By Alan Condon J ustin Cetas, MD, PhD, chair of neurosurgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, died July 13 after a motorcycle collision with a tow truck, according to ABC affiliate KGUN. Investigators determined the "major contributing fac- tor" was the truck failing to yield when making a left turn in front of the surgeon's motorcycle, which hit the rear passenger side of the truck, according to the report. Dr. Cetas, 51, was transported to Banner University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. Dr. Cetas graduated from the College of Medicine-Tuc- son MD-PhD program in 2002 and returned to the city in 2021 to serve as UArizona's neurosurgery chair. "On behalf of everyone at the University of Arizona Col- lege of Medicine-Tucson and Banner-University Medi- cine, we would like to express our most sincere sym- pathies to Dr. Cetas' family and loved ones," UArizona said in a statement. "We are all deeply saddened by this sudden and tragic event that is so difficult to process, as we come together to grieve his passing. Dr. Cetas was a talented neurosurgeon who dedicated his life to car- ing for others. He was also a skilled educator, respected researcher, trusted colleague and friend to many. He will be greatly missed." n Texas spine surgeon sued by State Farm over 'unnecessary' procedures By Carly Behm A San Antonio surgeon is being sued by an insurer over allegations he performed medically unnecessary spinal injections and procedures to inflate personal injury claims, according to a lawsuit filed July 26 in the Western District Court of Texas. Five things to know: 1. Sanjay Misra, MD, allegedly filed multiple fraudulent patient evalu- ations for unnecessary surgeries to "exaggerate the severity and inflate the value of personal injury claims against State Farm Mutual and State Farm County," the lawsuit says. 2. State Farm has identified 335 patients who were treated by Dr. Misra. Of those patients, he recommended and/or performed spinal injections for 300 of them. 3. e surgeries Dr. Misra recommended were usually microdiscecto- mies and anterior cervical discectomies and fusions. Nearly half of his patients were recommended for surgery, and some were recommend- ed for both microdiscectomy and ACDF. He recommended surgery "even when there is no indication a surgery would provide any relief to the patient," the lawsuit alleges. 4. e lawsuit also alleges Dr. Misra purported to take patients' information, but evaluations were "boilerplate, include nonspecific information about the patients' conditions and reveal noncredible patterns." 5. State Farm alleges it sustained damages of more than $1.1 million and is asking for a jury trial. Dr. Misra did not immediately respond to Becker's or the San Antonio Express News for comment. n