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Dr. Forrest Rubenstein MD

Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgeon, Rubenstein Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery

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Member of the Healthcare Council

Council Member Biography

Forrest Rubenstein, MD, FACS, is a Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgeon in private practice. Dr. Rubenstein is board certified in General, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. He has experience in cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery, aortic surgery, trauma, endovascular surgery, drug eluting stents, stent grafts, pacemakers, biventricular pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization, defibrillators, IABP, CRT-D, AICD, cardiac transplants, LVAD, artificial heart, CABG, valvular heart disease, valve repair and replacement, percutaneous valves, laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, vascular lasers, off pump CABG, VSD, ASD, AAA, TAAA, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms, carotid endarterectomy and stenting, cancer, laparoscopic and bariatric surgery, gastric bypass, minimally invasive surgery, CNS protection, circulatory arrest, brain protection, spinal cord protection, renal protection, paraplegia, and stroke. (This is me - Update Profile)


Employment History

2008 - Unspecified
Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgeon, Rubenstein Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
2001 - 2008
Attending Cardiovascular Surgeon, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
Unspecified - 2001
Attending, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON

GLG NewsSM Analyses by Forrest Rubenstein(?)

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Preventing Bariatric Surgery Deaths

January 25, 2008

Pinning Down Mortality Rates After Bariatric Surgery | www.medscape.com

 Bariatric surgery is a major operative procedure that caries significant morbidity and mortality risks due to the comorbid diseases seen in this patient population.  This procedure is increasing in frequency as more patients are willing to have it and more surgeons are becoming proficient. The mortality rate is ~ 1 % at 1 year and 6% at 5 years which is greater than the population at large.

CMS regulations penalize hospitals for taking care of sickest patients

August 28, 2007

New Medicare Regulations Adopted To Reduce Certain Hospital Infections And Medical Errors | www.medicalnewstoday.com

This article presents the new CMS guidelines that deny higher payments for the additional costs associated with treating patients for certain hospital - acquired infections and medical errors. While these are laudable goals, to assume that all infections are the result of poor medical practice is an oversimplification. The development of nosocomial infections also has to do with the patients disease processes such as diabetes, morbid obesity, immunosuppression, tobacco abuse, etc. While few physicians would argue against enforcing these rules for documented mistakes (medication errors, transfusion mistakes, and objects left in patients bodies), most recognize there is a certain baseline of these other infections which cannot be avoided. Hospitals should only be penalized when their risk adjusted incidence exceeds a standardized baseline.

Retail drugstore clinics - filling a niche ?

August 28, 2007

Drugstore Clinics Spread, and Scrutiny Grows | www.nytimes.com

   Several large drugstores are establishing retail medical clinics within their stores much as eyeglass stores have had optomitrists on site.  There is no problem with these clinics per se as long as they practice within the scope of the practitioners license and skill.  There are concerns that those clinics staffed by non physicians will be practicing inferior medicine beyond the scope of the practitioner.  As these clinics become more widespread, they will certainly come under greater scrutiny.

The drug patent "shell game"

August 28, 2007

New antihistamine gets FDA green light.(RX CARE)(Levocetirizine (Xyzal) by UCB Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis ) | www.therapeuticsdaily.com

   Zyrtec (cetirizine) is a second generation nonsedating antihistamine that has enjoyed wide popularity.  Zyrtec will become available generically in late 2007 and the generic form is expected to be significantly cheaper.  To virtually extend the patent, the manufacturer is marketing the active enantiomer, levocitirizine (Xyzal) as a replacement for Zyrtec. This required only a fraction of the R&D costs that developing a new drug would entail.  While this could be a boon to the pharmaceutical companies involved in the release, patients have little to benefit from the increased cost.

FIRE STAR™ Rx PTCA Dilatation Catheter - an incremental improvement, not disruptive technology

August 21, 2007

Cordis Corporation Introduces FIRE STAR™ Rx PTCA Dilatation Catheter | www.medicalnewstoday.com

   Cordis introduced the FIRE STAR™ Rx PTCA Dilatation Catheter to the European market.  This catheter reportedly has a lower profile than other devices on the market which enables it to cross highly stenotic or tortuous lesions.  There are no controlled studies showing device this offers any significant advantage for most angioplasty procedures.  The Fire Star device will likely become a part of the armamentarium of interventionalists but will not be the workhorse catheter unless a true outcome advantage can be demonstrated or the price is competitive with the devices currently available.

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