Miami-based Gastro Health is setting a bold new course in GI care, driven by physician engagement and growth strategies. Newly appointed Chief Medical Officer Eugenio Hernandez, MD — who has been a trailblazer since co-founding the practice in 1998 — joined Becker’s to discuss his top priorities for the organization in the next year.
Author: Abhay Panchal
Guardant Health has filed a lawsuit against rival Natera in California federal court, alleging that former employees stole thousands of confidential files to aid Natera’s development of competing cancer-detection blood tests. The lawsuit follows a previous $292.5 million false advertising verdict against Natera in November. Guardant claims its Shield test was the first FDA-approved early cancer blood test and accuses Natera of aggressively recruiting its employees to gain a competitive edge. Guardant seeks an injunction and monetary damages, while Natera denies the allegations, calling them baseless.
A randomized controlled trial comparing a digitally delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy (GDH) program (Nerva) to an active control found that GDH significantly improved IBS symptoms and quality of life. Among 240 participants, 81% of those using the GDH program experienced a ≥50-point decrease in IBS symptom severity compared to 63% in the control group (P = 0.002). GDH also led to a greater reduction in pain (71% vs. 35%, P < 0.001) and quality-of-life improvements (P < 0.001). These findings support digital GDH as an effective and accessible alternative to in-person behavioral interventions for IBS management.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, few voices resonate as profoundly as that of Praveen Suthrum, renowned healthcare futurist, author, and co-founder of NextServices and GI Mastermind. Suthrum will give the opening keynote address at the upcoming AGA Tech Summit, providing context for what is happening now in the field and the transformative potential of innovation and technology in the years to come. AGA staff met with Suthrum to discuss his keynote address and his thoughts about the role of innovation in healthcare, and specifically in gastroenterology.A visionary perspectiveSuthrum’s insights are rooted in a deep understanding of the exponential growth of…
Meta’s previous breakthroughs in miniaturized sensors, AI-integrated wearables, and haptics (e.g., Meta Digit 360) provide a strong foundation for building nimble and intelligent robotic assistants. These humanoids could revolutionize healthcare by assisting elderly patients at home, automating clinical tasks, and bridging labor gaps in hospitals.
Vijay Yajnik, VP, Head of Gastroenterology TA, US Medical Affairs, highlights the clinical progress in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), emphasizing the impact of updated ACG clinical guidelines and the role of collaborative research in transforming underdiagnosed conditions. The evolution of EoE from a case-reportable rarity to a widely recognized disease demonstrates how consensus recommendations and structured guidelines enhance diagnosis, treatment, and awareness.
Limaca Medical has introduced Precision-GI™, an automated motorized endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) biopsy device, to the U.S. market following FDA clearance, clinical trial success, and CMS Transitional Pass-Through (TPT) Payment approval. Designed to improve biopsy accuracy for GI tract and adjacent organ cancers, Precision-GI™ delivers higher-quality tissue samples with less blood content in a single pass, enhancing histopathologic and molecular analysis.
Biomerica’s inFoods® IBS blood test is transforming Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) management by identifying personalized dietary triggers, significantly reducing abdominal pain and bloating. A placebo-controlled trial of 238 IBS patients found that 59.6% of patients eliminating their specific trigger foods experienced pain relief, compared to 42.2% in the control group. Results were most pronounced in IBS-C (67.1%) and IBS-M (66%) patients.
A proposed rule could dramatically expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists like Wegovy and Zepbound, making these costly weight loss drugs more accessible. If finalized, the rule could grant 3.4 million Medicare and 4 million Medicaid recipients access to obesity medications, pressuring private insurers to follow suit—just as they did after Medicare covered bariatric surgery in 2006.
The definition and significance of tumor deposits (TDs) have evolved over the years. An estimated 20% of patients with colon cancer have TDs,1 and previous studies have established the presence of TDs as a poor prognostic factor, particularly among patients with stage III colon cancer.2,3 However, in the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) staging system, the presence of TDs only impacts staging if no lymph nodes (LNs) are positive, and then, there is only 1 designation: N1c. When LN metastases are present, TDs are not acknowledged within the classification system at all.