Sarah Witter had two operations to repair bones in her lower left leg after a skiing accident last February. The second surgery was needed to replace a stabilizing plate that broke. Matt Baldelli for KHN hide caption
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Sarah Witter fractured two bones in her lower left leg while skiing in Vermont last February. She had two operations to repair the damage. The second surgery was needed to replace a metal plate that broke after it was implanted. Matt Baldelli for KHN hide caption
Bill Of The Month: $43,208 For Repeat Surgery To Replace Broken Medical Device
Ochsner Baptist Medical Center in New Orleans hasn't needed device reps' help since it started using technology from a company called Sight Medical that handles inventory management. Courtesy of Sight Medical hide caption
Karin Bruwelheide handles an amputates limb that dates back to the Civil War. The bones were discovered by scientists at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History have been analyzing the bones to learn more about them and who they may have belonged to. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption
The clicker became a popular tool for dog training in the 1980s. Today, it has also caught on with humans — helping people to become better dancers, fishermen, golfers, and now, surgeons. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption
"As bad as NYU is, Aetna is equally culpable because Aetna's job was to be the checks and balances and to be my advocate," said Michael Frank, seen at his home in Port Chester, N.Y. Annie Tritt for ProPublica hide caption
Eleven days after surgery on her shoulder and foot, Sherry Young of Lawton, Okla., got a letter from her insurance plan saying that it hadn't approved her hospital stay. The letter "put me in a panic," says Young. The $115,000-plus bill for the hospital stay was about how much Young's home is worth, and five times her annual income. Nick Oxford for Kaiser Health News hide caption
Dr. Joshua Jacobs, an orthopedic surgeon, displays a model of a cementless hip replacement in 2014. M. Spencer Green/AP hide caption
Doctors think the chronic pain of "shoulder impingement" may arise from age-related tendon and muscle degeneration, or from a bone spur that can rub against a tendon. Michele Constantini/PhotoAlto/Getty Images hide caption
Popular Surgery To Ease Chronic Shoulder Pain Called Into Question
No, he's not Popeye. He's a 79-year-old man with a surprisingly common injury. The New England Journal of Medicine hide caption
Arthritis of the knee is very common, and isn't helped by arthroscopic surgery, a study finds. BSIP/UIG via Getty Images hide caption
How much is that hip implant in the X-ray? Only the hospital administrator and the company that made it know for sure. iStockphoto hide caption