by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 1, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
At last, something to help our patients with PG! There is a new, non-profit Patient and Family Advisory Council for PG and the kickoff meetings will take place on October 1 and October 7. This is a resource for practitioners, as well. Any provider or caregiver is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 26, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
For the past 3 years I have been watching the “skin substitute” industry and asking what I thought were simple questions about pricing, payments, and the legality of things like “selling the spread.” I have been worried about the possibility that unwary...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 24, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
My favorite book as a child was The Emperor’s New Clothes. I was fascinated by the idea that a large group of people would “go along” with something that was obviously not true based on what they could easily see with their own eyes. I often think of that story when I...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 19, 2025 | Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers
Hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions are often blamed for medically unpreventable pressure ulcers which began as tissue infarctions linked to hemodynamic factors in very sick patients. The companies that ensure these institutions are tired of paying...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 17, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
I have been paying close attention to the news about glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist medications because they may provide a ray of hope for many patients with chronic wounds – over 60% of whom are obese and nearly half of whom have diabetes. However, I also...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 15, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has just released a report on Medicare claims for “Skin Substitutes”. OIG analyzed Medicare Part B claims data, Medicare Advantage claims data, and manufacturer-reported sales data for skin substitutes in 2023 and 2024....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 12, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Dr. Fife, I wanted to provide some follow up on the “Tale of Two Wounds”. Eventually, Wound #1 cost Medicare (and the taxpayer) almost half a million dollars whereas Wound #2 cost less than 1% of that. And since the patient is responsible for 20% of those Medicare...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 10, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
Thank you to my friend Irene Waldridge for sending me this article about sleep apnea and wound healing which I had missed! “A total of 11 cohort studies and 1 case–control study with a total of 58,198,463 subjects were included. Most studies suggest that...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 8, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Dr. Fife, Your articles on skin subs are so helpful. An old coworker of mine called to ask me about the wound care Nurse Practitioner jobs she had seen advertised about applying skin subs. The company did a video interview with her, telling her how much money she...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 5, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
In the wake of two hyperbaric chamber fires, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an important Letter to Health Care Providers reminding clinicians and facilities of the critical importance of following manufacturer instructions...
