3 stories this morning, for surgeons and the people who support them.
- Bloomberg and WSJ: J&J is in talks to sell DePuy Synthes to Apollo Global Management for close to $20 billion — Bloomberg reported September 14, citing people familiar, that Johnson & Johnson is in talks to sell its DePuy Synthes orthopaedics unit ($9.3B in 2025 sales) to Apollo for close to $20B; a deal could come within weeks or collapse, a spin-off remains the alternative under J&J's October 2025 separation plan targeting mid-2027, and both companies declined to comment. Corroborated by Yahoo Finance's report citing Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal: https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/j-j-talks-sell-depuy-135349181.html Source
- AAOS files its CY2027 fee schedule comment letter on the deadline: keep 2026 work RVUs for primary hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasty and drop the 50% same-day E/M cut — On September 14, the final day of the comment period, AAOS asked CMS to maintain CY2026 work RVUs for total shoulder, hip and knee arthroplasty and shoulder hemiarthroplasty, withdraw the proposed 50% reduction for separately identifiable same-day E/M and procedural services, and hold off on further practice expense methodology changes; members sent more than 5,000 letters. The proposed values it opposes (27447 from 19.11 to 15.94 via a crosswalk to 65730; 27130 from 19.11 to 15.37; RUC recommended 16.70 for both) are from the proposed rule: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/16/2026-14327/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-cy-2027-payment-policies-under-the-physician-fee-schedule-and-other Source
- ACR posts its 2026 osteoarthritis guideline: strong against PRP and stem cell injections in knee and hip, conditional yes to GLP-1 receptor agonists in knee OA with obesity — The American College of Rheumatology posted on September 14 a summary (board-approved September 8) updating the 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation knee, hip and hand OA guideline: strong recommendations against PRP and stem cell injections in knee and hip OA, conditional against hyaluronic acid, strong for intraarticular glucocorticoids in knee and hip with strong for ultrasound guidance in hip, conditional for knee radiofrequency ablation, and a new conditional recommendation for GLP-1 RAs in knee OA with obesity; massage, erosive-hand-OA methotrexate and glucosamine/chondroitin changed direction. The full manuscript is to be submitted to Arthritis & Rheumatology and Arthritis Care & Research. Also reported by Healio: https://www.healio.com/news/rheumatology/20260914/new-acr-osteoarthritis-guidelines-urge-shared-decisionmaking-individualized-treatment Source
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