A 21-member committee organized by the Institute of Medicine (IOM; Washington) concluded that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. The committee analyzed the problem of medical diagnostic errors and proposed solutions in a new report.

Entrepreneurs don't like to show their hand too early and one startup in the surgical robotics space seems to be doing a particularly good job of keeping quiet about its activities. Auris Surgical Robotics (San Carlos, Calif.) raised $150 million in equity financing, according to a form D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but few other details were disclosed.

Some industry spectators may question the timing of Transenterix's (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) nearly $100 million purchase of Sofar's (Milan) surgical robotics division, but from the company's perspective the timing couldn't have been better.

When Covidien, now part of Medtronic (Dublin), bought superDimension in 2012 for $300 million, the company expected to sell the lung cancer diagnostic technology the old fashioned way. "Historically, we would have sold a product like this on features and benefits and relationships," Michael Tarnoff, VP and chief medical officer of the minimally invasive therapies group at Medtronic, told Medical Device Daily. "Today and beyond, we're looking to sell these things based on evidence."