BY MALACHI SHEAHAN III, MD DEPUTY MEDICAL EDITOR, VASCULAR SPECIALIST

AIDS, the Vietnam War, whatever your preferred scale for measuring horrific events, the numbers from the opioid crisis are as grave or worse. And, once again, it is the young who are dying. How we got to this point is an unbelievable story of corporate greed, government incompetence, regulatory commission overreach, and, unfortunately, physician ignorance.

BY MALACHI G. SHEAHAN III, MD DEPUTY MEDICAL EDITOR, VASCULAR SPECIALIST

BY MALACHI G. SHEAHAN III, MD DEPUTY MEDICAL EDITOR, VASCULAR SPECIALIST

BY MALACHI SHEAHAN III, MD

For the first time in history, four generations of physicians work side by side in the U.S. health care system. An expanding population, longer life expectancies and later retirement ages all contribute to this phenomenon. Each of these generations has made significant contributions to modern surgery and how we practice it. For better and for worse.

For the public, navigating the complex world of vascular care must seem like being adrift on the high seas, with brigands and pirates galore. Vascular surgeons, cardiac surgeons, interventional radiologists, and interventional cardiologists all raise their friendly flags to lure patients. 

BY MALACHI G. SHEAHAN III, MD ASSOCIATE MEDICAL EDITOR, VASCULAR SPECIALIST

ROSEMONT, Ill., Nov. 25, 2019 – When patients meet vascular surgeon Dr. William Jordan, there is a 30 to 40 percent chance they have diabetes, whether they know it or not.

Calling SVS members: Your research is wanted, whether the topic covers EVAR follow-up, how to perform celiac artery decompressions with a supra-celiac aorta to celiac bypass, or the biology behind vascular smooth muscle cell responses.

Submission sites are now open for two annual SVS meetings in 2020, the Vascular Research Initiatives Conference and the Vascular Annual Meeting.

W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. will support a new Society for Vascular Surgery initiative to advance patient safety programs and the quality of vascular care.

Through a general block grant, Gore will help fund SVS quality initiatives designed to improve vascular patient surgical outcomes. These related projects will address key practice factors influencing quality care, including new care delivery and payment models, patient education, costs, surgeon wellness, and the value of vascular surgery services.

Dear colleagues,

We, the SVS and its members, stand at a pivotal time in our history. Health care policy will be at the center of the debate in next year’s elections. It is apparent that vascular surgeons need to have a voice in our future or be swept away in others’ ideas for how health care should be delivered and reimbursed in our country. The battle lines are now being drawn.